Scientific article
English

Design and performance of a universal SiPM readout system for X- and gamma-ray missions

Publication date2025-11
First online date2025-06-26
Abstract

The advent of both multi-messenger and time-domain astrophysics over the last decade has seen a large interest in the development of small-scale, cheap, and robust gamma-ray detectors. This has been further encouraged by the availability of CubeSat platforms. Of particular interest are detectors capable of producing spectral and localization measurements of X and gamma-ray transients to allow for accurate follow-up measurements at different wavelengths. A vast number of the instruments developed for such purposes in the last years use a combination of scintillators and Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) for photon detection. Here, we present the design, performance, and space qualification of a readout system capable of reading out 64 SiPM channels. This low-power and low-cost system was originally designed for the POLAR-2 mission, a large scale gamma-ray polarimeter. However, its flexible design makes it equally suitable for use on various CubeSat missions. The system was found to perform well when reading out both plastic and high Z scintillators using a total of 1.8 W. The space qualified design furthermore relies on commercial off-the-shelf components, thereby also removing most international export issues. In this paper, we will present the overall design, the performance of the electronics, its performance when reading out various scintillators and the successful space-qualification of this design.

Keywords
  • X-ray 1
  • Gamma-ray 2
  • Spectrometer
  • Astrophysics
  • Polarimeter
  • SiPM
Research groups
Funding
  • European Commission - Integrated Activities for the High Energy Astrophysics Domain [871158]
  • European Commission - EUROpean Laboratories for Accelerator Based Science [101057511]
Citation (ISO format)
KOLE, Merlin Reynaard et al. Design and performance of a universal SiPM readout system for X- and gamma-ray missions. In: Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment, 2025, vol. 1080, p. 170782. doi: 10.1016/j.nima.2025.170782
Main files (1)
Article (Published version)
accessLevelRestricted
Identifiers
Journal ISSN0168-9002
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Technical informations

Creation27/06/2025 00:30:58
First validation10/07/2025 13:52:27
Update time10/07/2025 13:52:27
Status update10/07/2025 13:52:27
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