PMT and SiPM are the two most well-known photodetectors right now. Both have their benefits and drawbacks. PMT dynode's structure is overly complicated and requires voltage stabilization, while the light-receiving area of SiPM is restricted. The number of photodetectors having large light-receiving area will be needed for next-generation experiments like KNO (Korean Neutrino Observatory). Neutrino's observatories are usually located in extreme environments, such as under the ice like an Ice Cube neutrino observatory or underground in a water tank like Super Kamiokande. In such conditions, thousands of photodetectors are deployed to hunt for neutrinos. KNO will work underground in the same way that Super Kamiokande does, and the requisite photodetectors must be large, robust, and simple in design. To combine the benefits of both PMT and SiPM, we presented a novel hybrid photodetector named the silicon photomultiplier tube (SiPMT). The idea is to replace the dynodes structure of PMT with SiPM for electronic amplification. In the proposed SiPMT, a scintillator is placed on top of SiPM. Incident light falls on the photocathode, which leads to the creation of photoelectrons. The potential difference between the anode and the photocathode produces the electric field. The electric field accelerates the photoelectrons towards the scintillator. The scintillator emits scintillation light when photoelectrons collide with it. SiPM then detects the scintillation light. The energy of the incident particles determines the scintillation yield. The higher the photoelectron's energy, the more photons are emitted, and the expected signal is a bit large. Based on that, we have made the SiPMT demonstrator. The Novel SiPMT theory and demonstrator's 3D design are presented first in this dissertation. Secondly, this dissertation presents electric field simulation results to optimize photoelectrons' transit time spread (TTS) in SiPMT. Third, the dissertation will discuss the results of the geant4 simulation for optimizing metal thickness for metal-coated scintillators in SiPMT. Finally, the results obtained from the systematic study of the SiPMT demonstrator will be presented.
Thesis Advisor: Prof. Hongjoo Kim