{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]],"date-time":"2026-05-12T14:03:13Z","timestamp":1778594593692,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,1]],"date-time":"2024-08-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1722470400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) are single photon detectors that gained increasing interest in many applications as an alternative to photomultiplier tubes. In the field of space experiments, where volume, weight and power consumption are a major constraint, their advantages like compactness, ruggedness, and their potential to achieve high quantum efficiency from UV to NIR makes them ideal candidates for spaceborne, low photon flux detectors. During space missions however, SiPMs are usually exposed to high levels of radiation, both ionizing and non-ionizing, which can deteriorate the performance of these detectors over time. The goal of this work is to compare process and layout variation of SiPMs in terms of their radiation damage effects to identify the features that helps reduce the deterioration of the performance and develop the next generation of more radiation-tolerant detectors. To do this, we used protons and X-rays to irradiate several Near Ultraviolet High-Density (NUV-HD) SiPMs with small areas (single microcell, 0.2 \u00d7 0.2 mm2 and 1 \u00d7 1 mm2) produced at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), Italy. We performed online current-voltage measurements right after each irradiation step, and a complete functional characterization before and after irradiation. We observed that the main contribution to performance degradation in space applications comes from proton damage in the form of an increase in primary dark count rate (DCR) proportional to the proton fluence and a reduction in activation energy. In this context, small active area devices show a lower DCR before and after irradiation, and we propose light or charge-focusing mechanisms as future developments for high-sensitivity radiation-tolerant detectors.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s24154990","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,1]],"date-time":"2024-08-01T18:04:59Z","timestamp":1722535499000},"page":"4990","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Radiation Damage on Silicon Photomultipliers from Ionizing and Non-Ionizing Radiation of Low-Earth Orbit Operations"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0512-2491","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefano","family":"Merzi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), Center for Sensors and Devices, Via Sommarive 18, 38123 Trento, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8213-5405","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fabio","family":"Acerbi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), Center for Sensors and Devices, Via Sommarive 18, 38123 Trento, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Corinne","family":"Aicardi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre National d\u2019\u00c9tudes Spatiales (CNES), 18, Avenue Edouard Belin, 31076 Toulouse, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Daniela","family":"Fiore","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"AIRBUS Defence and Space, 31, Rue des Cosmonautes, 31076 Toulouse, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5024-0115","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vincent","family":"Goiffon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institut Sup\u00e9rieur de l\u2019A\u00e9ronautique et de l\u2019Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO), 10, Avenue \u00c9douard Belin, 31076 Toulouse, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alberto Giacomo","family":"Gola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), Center for Sensors and Devices, Via Sommarive 18, 38123 Trento, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1829-3465","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Olivier","family":"Marcelot","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institut Sup\u00e9rieur de l\u2019A\u00e9ronautique et de l\u2019Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO), 10, Avenue \u00c9douard Belin, 31076 Toulouse, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8625-8090","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alex","family":"Materne","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre National d\u2019\u00c9tudes Spatiales (CNES), 18, Avenue Edouard Belin, 31076 Toulouse, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Olivier","family":"Saint-Pe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"AIRBUS Defence and Space, 31, Rue des Cosmonautes, 31076 Toulouse, France"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nima.2018.11.118","article-title":"Understanding and simulating SiPMs","volume":"26","author":"Acerbi","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrometers Detect. Assoc. Equip."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"292","DOI":"10.1140\/epjp\/s13360-021-01183-8","article-title":"SiPM applications in positron emission tomography: Toward ultimate PET time-of-flight resolution","volume":"136","author":"Lecoq","year":"2021","journal-title":"Eur. Phys. J. Plus"},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"Gnecchi, S., and Jackson, C. (June, January 30). A 1 \u00d7 16 SiPM array for automotive 3D imaging LiDAR systems. Proceedings of the 2017 International Image Sensor Workshop (IISW), Hiroshima, Japan."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"164373","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nima.2020.164373","article-title":"Development and test of a SiPM cluster for a SiPM version of the Cherenkov Telescope Array LST camera","volume":"982","author":"Berti","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrometers Detect. Assoc. Equip."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1140\/epjp\/i2018-11973-4","article-title":"DarkSide-20k: A 20 tonne two-phase LAr TPC for direct dark matter detection at LNGS","volume":"133","author":"Aalseth","year":"2018","journal-title":"Eur. Phys. J. Plus"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"012119","DOI":"10.1088\/1742-6596\/1390\/1\/012119","article-title":"Characterization of a scintillator tile equipped with SiPMs for future cosmic-ray space experiments","volume":"1390","author":"Gargano","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Phys. Conf. Ser."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"35","DOI":"10.1007\/s41605-021-00282-5","article-title":"Quality assurance test and failure analysis of SiPM arrays of GECAM satellites","volume":"6","author":"Zhang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Radiat. Detect. Technol. Methods"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1229","DOI":"10.1364\/OL.37.001229","article-title":"Silicon photomultiplier detector for atmospheric lidar applications","volume":"37","author":"Riu","year":"2012","journal-title":"Opt. Lett."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"C04014","DOI":"10.1088\/1748-0221\/15\/04\/C04014","article-title":"Precision timing with LYSO: Ce crystals and SiPM sensors in the CMS MTD barrel timing layer","volume":"15","author":"Malberti","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Instrum."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"234","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nima.2012.10.015","article-title":"Radiation Hardness Tests of SiPMs for the JLab Hall D Barrel Calorimeter","volume":"698","author":"Qiang","year":"2013","journal-title":"Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrometers Detect. Assoc. Equip."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"C08006","DOI":"10.1088\/1748-0221\/15\/08\/C08006","article-title":"SciFi, the new Tracker of the LHCb experiment","volume":"15","author":"Massaferri","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Instrum."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"319","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nima.2015.01.012","article-title":"Radiation damage studies of silicon photomultipliers for the CMS HCAL phase I upgrade","volume":"787","author":"Musienko","year":"2015","journal-title":"Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrometers Detect. Assoc. Equip."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"69","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nima.2018.10.191","article-title":"Radiation damage of SiPMs","volume":"926","author":"Garutti","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrometers Detect. Assoc. Equip."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"111","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nima.2015.11.037","article-title":"Effects of very high radiation on SiPMs","volume":"824","author":"Heering","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrometers Detect. Assoc. Equip."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"722","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nima.2008.10.027","article-title":"Radiation damage studies of silicon photomultipliers","volume":"598","author":"Bohn","year":"2009","journal-title":"Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrometers Detect. Assoc. Equip."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"301","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nima.2009.02.022","article-title":"Effects of radiation damage caused by proton irradiation on Multi-Pixel Photon Counters (MPPCs)","volume":"603","author":"Matsumura","year":"2009","journal-title":"Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrometers Detect. Assoc. Equip."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"164798","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nima.2020.164798","article-title":"Radiation damage assessment of SensL SiPMs","volume":"988","author":"Mitchell","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrometers Detect. Assoc. Equip."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"167284","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nima.2022.167284","article-title":"Characterization of Silicon Photomultipliers after proton irradiation up to 1014 neq\/cm2","volume":"1040","author":"Altamura","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrometers Detect. Assoc. Equip."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"167502","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nima.2022.167502","article-title":"Characterization of radiation damages on Silicon photomultipliers by X-rays up to 100 kGy","volume":"1045","author":"Acerbi","year":"2023","journal-title":"Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrometers Detect. Assoc. Equip."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"167488","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nima.2022.167488","article-title":"Radiation damage on SiPMs for space applications","volume":"1045","author":"Altamura","year":"2023","journal-title":"Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrometers Detect. Assoc. Equip."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"167791","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nima.2022.167791","article-title":"Radiation damage effects of protons and X-rays on silicon photomultipliers","volume":"1047","author":"Acerbi","year":"2023","journal-title":"Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrometers Detect. Assoc. Equip."},{"key":"ref_22","unstructured":"Poivey, C. (2019, January 13\u201317). Radiation effects in space electronics. Proceedings of the 6th EIROforum School on Instrumentation, Noordwijk, The Netherlands."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gola, A., Acerbi, F., Capasso, M., Marcante, M., Mazzi, A., Paternoster, G., Piemonte, C., Regazzoni, V., and Zorzi, N. (2019). NUV-Sensitive Silicon Photomultiplier Technologies Developed at Fondazione Bruno Kessler. Sensors, 19.","DOI":"10.3390\/s19020308"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"359","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nima.2017.12.059","article-title":"Radiation damage of prototype SiPMs for the CMS HCAL Barrel phase I upgrade","volume":"912","author":"Musienko","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrometers Detect. Assoc. Equip."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"164478","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nima.2020.164478","article-title":"FBK VUV-sensitive Silicon Photomultipliers for cryogenic temperatures","volume":"982","author":"Capasso","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrometers Detect. Assoc. Equip."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gundacker, S., Borghi, G., Cherry, S.R., Gola, A., Lee, D., Merzi, S., Penna, M., Schulz, V., and Kwon, S.I. (2023). On timing-optimized SiPMs for Cherenkov detection to boost low cost time-of-flight PET. Phys. Med. Biol., 68.","DOI":"10.1088\/1361-6560\/ace8ee"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"P05040","DOI":"10.1088\/1748-0221\/18\/05\/P05040","article-title":"NUV-HD SiPMs with metal-filled trenches","volume":"18","author":"Merzi","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. Instrum."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Piemonte, C., Ferri, A., Gola, A., Picciotto, A., Pro, T., Serra, N., Tarolli, A., and Zorzi, N. (November, January 27). Development of an automatic procedure for the characterization of silicon photomultipliers. Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference Record (NSS\/MIC), Anaheim, CA, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/NSSMIC.2012.6551141"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"P08014","DOI":"10.1088\/1748-0221\/11\/08\/P08014","article-title":"Set-up and methods for SiPM Photo-Detection Efficiency measurements","volume":"11","author":"Acerbi","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Instrum."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"99","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejmp.2019.02.001","article-title":"A new facility for proton radiobiology at the trento proton therapy centre: Design and implementation","volume":"58","author":"Tommasino","year":"2019","journal-title":"Phys. Med."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Schoenfeld, A.A., Harder, D., Poppe, B., and Chofor, N. (2015). Water equivalent phantom materials for 192Ir brachytherapy. Phys. Med. Biol., 60.","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/60\/24\/9403"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"48","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejmp.2017.01.011","article-title":"Characterization of a commercial scintillation detector for 2-D dosimetry in scanned proton and carbon ion beams","volume":"34","author":"Russo","year":"2017","journal-title":"Phys. Med."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5484","DOI":"10.1063\/1.326601","article-title":"Electric field effect on the thermal emission of traps in semiconductor junctions","volume":"50","author":"Vincent","year":"1979","journal-title":"J. Appl. Phys."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"P11010","DOI":"10.1088\/1748-0221\/11\/11\/P11010","article-title":"Study of the photo-detection efficiency of FBK High-Density silicon photomultipliers","volume":"11","author":"Acerbi","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Instrum."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"26","DOI":"10.1109\/TED.2015.2451661","article-title":"Interpreting activation energies in digital image sensors","volume":"63","author":"Dunlap","year":"2015","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Electron. Devices"}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/24\/15\/4990\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T15:28:32Z","timestamp":1760110112000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/24\/15\/4990"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,1]]},"references-count":35,"journal-issue":{"issue":"15","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,8]]}},"alternative-id":["s24154990"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s24154990","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,1]]}}}