Modélisation, fabrication et évaluation des photodiodes à avalanche polarisées en mode Geiger pour la détection du photon unique dans les applications Astrophysiques.

摘要

The genesis of the work presented in this this is in the field of very high energy astrophysics. One century ago, scientists identified a new type of messenger coming from space: cosmic rays. This radiation consists of particles (photons or other) of very high energy which bombard the Earth permanently. The passage of cosmic radiations in the Earth's atmosphere results in the creation of briefs luminous flashes (5ns) of very low intensity (1pW), a Cherenkov flash, and then becomes visible on the ground In the current state of the art the best detector of light today is the Photomultiplier tube (PMT), thanks to its characteristics of sensitivity and speed. But there are some drawbacks: low quantum efficiency, cost, weight etc. We present in this thesis a new alternative technology: silicon photon counters, made of photodiodes polarized in Geiger mode.This operating mode makes it possible to obtain an effect of multiplication comparable to that of the PMT. A physical and electrical model was developed to reproduce the behaviour of this detector. We then present in this thesis work an original technological process allowing the realization of these devices in the Central of Technology of LAAS-CNRS, with the simulation of each operation of the process.We developed a scheme for the electric characterization of the devices, from the static mode to the dynamic mode, in order to check conformity with SILVACO simulations and to the initial model. Results are already excellent, given this is only a first prototyping step, and comparable with the results published in the literature.These silicon devices can intervene in all the applications where there is a photomultiplier and replace it. The applications are thus very numerous and the growth of the market of these detectors is very fast. We present a first astrophysical experiment installed at the Pic du Midi site which has detected Cherenkov flashes from cosmic rays with this new semiconductor technology.