The silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) is a promising photodetector for a number of applications. In this paper, we present a Monte-Carlo based statistical model, which includes the fundamental device characteristics of the SiPM, such as fill factor, quantum efficiency, Geiger discharge probability, afterpulse probability, crosstalk probability, cell size, non-linearity and dark count rate. The impact of these parameters on the performance of a SiPM coupled to a scintilla-ting crystal were studied. In this work special focus was put on the influence of different parameters on the energy resolution of a SiPM coupled to a LYSO, which provides important guidelines for further optimization of SiPMs for positron emission tomography. The developed model shows that afterpulses and the crosstalk have little influence on the detector performance in terms of energy resolution. The energy resolution of the SiPM with 400 cells/mm 2 is strongly affected by the recovery time of the detector. It is due to the combination of the high PDE and short recovery time that a SiPM with 400 cells/mm 2 shows better performance in term of energy resolution when coupled with LYSO compared to a SiPM with 1600 cells/mm 2 .     «

The silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) is a promising photodetector for a number of applications. In this paper, we present a Monte-Carlo based statistical model, which includes the fundamental device characteristics of the SiPM, such as fill factor, quantum efficiency, Geiger discharge probability, afterpulse probability, crosstalk probability, cell size, non-linearity and dark count rate. The impact of these parameters on the performance of a SiPM coupled to a scintilla-ting crystal were studied....     »