Comparison of readout systems for high-rate silicon photo-multiplier applications

Abstract: Recent years have shown an increased use of silicon photo-multipliers (SiPM) in experiments as they are of reasonable cost, have relatively low power consumption and are easily available in a variety of form factors allowing for a large number of readout channels. At the same time, experiments are generating data at increasingly high rates requiring the use of more efficient readout systems. In this work, the dead time, efficiency, dynamic range, coincidence time resolution and energy resolution of five different readout systems at various stages of maturity are evaluated to determine the best system for acquiring data from a detector in a high rate experiment. Additional functionalities of the systems are also discussed.