The photon detection efficiency (PDE) and timing performance of silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) need to be improved for various applications, including time-of-flight positron emission tomography, light detection and ranging, and high-energy physics experiments. However, the irradiation of some incident photons to the low-photosensitivity areas of the SiPM negatively affects its PDE and timing performance. In this study, we developed a 40 × 40 metalens array to focus incident photons on the photosensitive area of the SiPM, thereby improving the PDE and timing performance. As a proof of concept, we experimentally investigated the effectiveness of this method. After characterizing the fabricated metalens, we found that the focused beam size is approximately 1 μm (full width at half-maximum) at the optimal focal plane. Furthermore, we demonstrated the effectiveness of the metalens in significantly improving the PDE (within a 5.8 σ confidence level) and timing performance (within a 3.0 σ confidence level). The results demonstrate the potential for using metalenses for versatile applications of SiPMs.

中文翻译：

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用于改进硅光电倍增管性能的 40 × 40 元透镜阵列

硅光电倍增管 (SiPM) 的光子检测效率 (PDE) 和定时性能需要针对各种应用进行改进，包括飞行时间正电子发射断层扫描、光检测和测距以及高能物理实验。然而，一些入射光子照射到 SiPM 的低光敏区域会对其 PDE 和时序性能产生负面影响。在这项研究中，我们开发了一个 40 × 40 元透镜阵列，将入射光子聚焦在 SiPM 的光敏区域，从而提高 PDE 和时序性能。作为概念证明，我们通过实验研究了这种方法的有效性。在表征制造的元透镜后，我们发现在最佳焦平面上聚焦光束尺寸约为 1 μm（半高全宽）。此外，我们证明了元透镜在显着改善 PDE（在 5.8 σ 置信水平内）和计时性能（在 3.0 σ 置信水平内）方面的有效性。结果证明了将超透镜用于 SiPM 的多功能应用的潜力。