Characterization of Silicon Photomultipliers

Burstcube is a 6U CubeSat space research designed with the intention of detecting and localizing Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs). GRBs are defined as "long", attributed to the collapse of massive stars, or "short", resulting from binary neutron star or binary black hole mergers. Burstcube is optimized to observe in the 10-1000keV range, where GRB prompt emission is detectable. Short Gamma-ray Bursts are of particular interest because they are predicted to be counterparts of gravitational wave sources that have now been detected by LIGO (The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) In the grand scheme, Burstcube will be a set of 5 CubeSats that are able to observe all aspects of the sky for a comparatively low cost. Burstcube will be coupled with four Cesium Iodide (CsI) scintillator arrays that will be positioned to observe different portions of the sky to localize GRBs through the scintillator and the silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) arrays. Using Cesium Iodide, as opposed to lead and plastic based scintillators, allows for a better energy resolution when mapping these sources. With my research being centered around the analysis of the efficiency of the Hamamatsu Silicon Photomultiplier models, I assessed the upgrades made from the series 13 modes to the series 14 model. Improvements to reduction to power need and increase to total efficiency was observed from the older models to the new. With these improvements made to the Silicon photomultipliers, energy resolution can see an increase through the arrays used in conjunction with the scintillator as well. These improvements will allow for technology to edge closer to wide-view, low-cost GRB analysis.