0000000000246645
AUTHOR
Andreas Thomas
Characterization of SiPM properties at liquid nitrogen temperature
SiPM operation at cryogenic temperatures fails for many common devices. A particular type with deep channels in the silicon substrate instead of quenching resistors was thoroughly characterized from room temperature down to liquid nitrogen temperature by illuminating it with low light levels. The devices were mounted in vacuum with the temperature stabilized to allow long-term operation. SiPM signals from a LED pulser were acquired with single-pixel resolution. Generalized fits to the charge collection spectra were used to extract properties like single-pixel gain, inter-pixel variation, breakdown voltage, and photon detection efficiency. With these measurements a deeper investigation of th…
Ultrathin Tropical Tropopause Clouds (UTTCs): II. Stabilization mechanisms
Abstract. Mechanisms by which subvisible cirrus clouds (SVCs) might contribute to dehydration close to the tropical tropopause are not well understood. Recently Ultrathin Tropical Tropopause Clouds (UTTCs) with optical depths around 10-4 have been detected in the western Indian ocean. These clouds cover thousands of square kilometers as 200-300 m thick distinct and homogeneous layer just below the tropical tropopause. In their condensed phase UTTCs contain only 1-5% of the total water, and essentially no nitric acid. A new cloud stabilization mechanism is required to explain this small fraction of the condensed water content in the clouds and their small vertical thickness. This work sugges…
Modeling and Characterization of SiPM Parameters at Temperatures between 95 K and 300 K
The modeling and characterization of silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) in a wide temperature range from 95 K to 300 K is presented. The devices under study had the distinctive feature of forward-biased p-n junctions situated under each pixel as active quenching resistors making them particularly appropriate to be operated at cryogenic temperatures. The voltage drop across the diode in a forward direction was measured for a series of injected currents in this temperature range. It was observed that the characteristics of different SiPM types influence the temperature dependence of the reverse saturation current. The devices were further characterized by low-level light-pulse measurements. The…
Recent result from the A2 collaboration at MAMI
The A2 Collaboration at the Mainz Microtron MAMI is measuring photon absorption cross section using circularly and linearly polarized photons up to energies of 1.6 GeV. The photons are produced in the ‘Bremsstrahlungs’ process, the energy is determined by a dedicated tagging system. The Crystal Ball-TAPS detector system with its high capability to cope with multi photon final states is used to acquire data with a variety of nonpolarized and spin polarized targets. Physical goals are the investigation of the nucleons excitation spectrum via single and double meson photoproduction and in addition a detailed determination of meson decays in precision experiments. We have started a program to m…
Performance of sensl C-Series SiPM with high photoelectron resolution at cryogenic temperatures
The C-Series of silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) from SensL provides devices with a fast response and high performance at low cost. The device's ability to detect light at temperatures of liquid nitrogen (77K) and liquid helium (4 K) with high photoelectron resolution was demonstrated. Results include relative photon detection efficiency (PDE), gain, microcell capacitance, and cross-talk probability at different over-voltages, both at room and at cryogenic temperatures. At 77K the SiPM demonstrated significantly improved operating characteristics while at 4K the observed increase in break-down voltage, the reduction of PDE by a factor of 2-3, and the extensively dropped microcell capacitance…
RECENT RESULTS FROM THE REAL PHOTON EXPERIMENT AT MAMI
Experiments with real photons have been performed for many years at the Mainz accelerator MAMI with different detectors. The upgraded MAMI C accelerator recently delivered electrons with an energy of 1604MeV. The A2 collaboration performs experiments with energy tagged polarised real photons produced via 'Bremsstrahlung'. Linear and circular photon polarisation is possible. In the years 2005/2006 the Crystal Ball detector with its unique detection capability for multi photon final states was set up in Mainz. The Crystal Ball at MAMI setup offers an excellent possibility to study decays of the η and η′ mesons. Due to the high intensity photon beam the apparatus can be seen as an η-factory. …
The GDH experiment at MAMI
Abstract The Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn (GDH) sum rule connects the helicity dependent photoabsorption cross section with the anomalous magnetic moment of the nucleon. The GDH-collaboration is measuring the total cross section of circularly polarized photons with longitudinally polarized protons to check this sum rule experimentally to do a further progress in the investigation of the spin structure of the nucleon. The experiment has been started using the polarized electron beam of the Mainz electron accelerator MAMI in the energy range 200 – 800 MeV and will be continued at the Bonn accelerator ELSA up to an energy of about 3 GeV. We have finished the datav taking period at MAMI for the proton…
Ultrathin Tropical Tropopause Clouds (UTTCs) : I. Cloud morphology and occurrence
Abstract. Subvisible cirrus clouds (SVCs) may contribute to dehydration close to the tropical tropopause. The higher and colder SVCs and the larger their ice crystals, the more likely they represent the last efficient point of contact of the gas phase with the ice phase and, hence, the last dehydrating step, before the air enters the stratosphere. The first simultaneous in situ and remote sensing measurements of SVCs were taken during the APE-THESEO campaign in the western Indian ocean in February/March 1999. The observed clouds, termed Ultrathin Tropical Tropopause Clouds (UTTCs), belong to the geometrically and optically thinnest large-scale clouds in the Earth's atmosphere. Individual UT…
In situ measurements of background aerosol and subvisible cirrus in the tropical tropopause region
[1] In situ aerosol measurements were performed in the Indian Ocean Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) region during the Airborne Polar Experiment-Third European Stratospheric Experiment on Ozone (APE-THESEO) field campaign based in Mahe, Seychelles between 24 February and 6 March 1999. These are measurements of particle size distributions with a laser optical particle counter of the Forward Scattering Spectrometer Probe (FSSP)-300 type operated on the Russian M-55 high-altitude research aircraft Geophysica in the tropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere up to altitudes of 21 km. On 24 and 27 February 1999, ultrathin layers of cirrus clouds were penetrated by Geophysica directly…
Stratospheric aerosol measurements in the Arctic winter of 1996/1997 with the M-55 Geophysika high-altitude research aircraft
In-situ aerosol measurements were performed in the northern hemispheric stratosphere up to altitudes of 21 km between 13 November 1996 and 14 January 1997, inside and outside of the polar vortex during the Airborne Polar Experiment (APE) field campaign. These are measurements of particle size distributions with a laser optical particle counter of the FSSP-300 type operated during 9 flights on the Russian M-55 high-altitude research aircraft Geophysika. For specific flights, the FSSP-300 measurements are compared with balloon-borne data (launched from Kiruna, Sweden). It was found that the stratospheric aerosol content reached levels well below the background concentrations measured by the N…