Silicon photo-multiplier radiation hardness tests with a beam controlled neutron source

Radiation hardness tests were performed at the Frascati Neutron Generator on silicon Photo-Multipliers that were made of semiconductor photon detectors built from a square matrix of avalanche photodiodes on a silicon substrate. Several samples from different manufacturers have been irradiated, integrating up to 7 X 10(10) 1-MeV-equivalent neutrons per cm(2). Detector performance was recorded during the neutron irradiation, and a gradual deterioration of their properties began after an integrated fluence of the order of 10(8) 1-MeV-equivalent neutrons per cm(2) was reached. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved