Silicon Photomultipliers: Status and Prospects

Explosive progress in semiconductors physics and technology over the last century has led to replacement of almost all electro-vacuum devices with their corresponding solid-state counterparts. The only remaining exceptions were vacuum photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). In this paper, physical and technological problems are analyzed, the solution of which led to the creation of the most capable solid-state analogues of the well-known PMTs—silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). Mass application of SiPM devices is planned in large-scale colliders, such as LHC, NICA, JUNO, and others. The status, prospects and ways of further improving the parameters of SiPMs are discussed.