Characterization of more than three years of in-orbit radiation damage of SiPMs on GRBAlpha and VZLUSAT-2 CubeSats

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14310%2F25%3A00144307" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14310/25:00144307 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/00216305:26220/26:0200737

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2025.170513" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2025.170513</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2025.170513" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.nima.2025.170513</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Characterization of more than three years of in-orbit radiation damage of SiPMs on GRBAlpha and VZLUSAT-2 CubeSats

Original language description

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are prone to radiation damage which causes an increase of dark count rate. This leads to an increase in low-energy threshold in a gamma-ray detector combining SiPM and a scintillator. Despite this drawback, they are becoming preferred for scintillator-based gamma-ray detectors on CubeSats due to their low operation voltage, small size, linear response to low light intensity and fast response. This increasing popularity of SiPMs among new spaceborne missions makes it important to characterize their long-term performance in the space environment. In this work, we report the change of the dark count rate and low-energy threshold of S13360-3050 PE multi-pixel photon counters (MPPCs) by Hamamatsu, using measurements acquired by the GRBAlpha and VZLUSAT-2 CubeSats at low Earth orbit (LEO) spanning over three years. Such a long measurement of the performance of MPPCs in space has not been published before. GRBAlpha is a 1U CubeSat launched on March 22, 2021, to a 550 km altitude sun-synchronous polar orbit (SSO) carrying on board a gamma-ray detector based on CsI(Tl) scintillator readout by eight MPPCs and regularly detecting gamma-ray transients such as gamma-ray bursts and solar flares in the energy range of ∼ 30-900 keV. VZLUSAT-2 is a 3U CubeSat launched on January 13, 2022 also to a 535 km altitude SSO carrying on board, among other payloads, two gamma-ray detectors similar to the one on GRBAlpha. We have flight-proven the Hamamatsu MPPCs S13360-3050 PE and demonstrated that MPPCs, shielded by 2.5 mm of PbSb alloy, can be used in LEO environment on a scientific mission lasting beyond three years. This manifests the potential of MPPCs being employed in future satellites.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10308 - Astronomy (including astrophysics,space science)

Project

<a href="/en/project/GC24-11487J" target="_blank" >GC24-11487J: Joint Gamma Ray Bursts Observations with Small Satellites</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

ISSN

0168-9002

e-ISSN

1872-9576

Volume of the periodical

1076

Issue of the periodical within the volume

July

Country of publishing house

NL - THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS

Number of pages

13

Pages from-to

1-13

UT code for WoS article

001475182700001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-105002585410