Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

We characterize the performance of a complete 64-pixel compact gamma camera imaging module consisting of optically isolated 3 mm 3 mm 5 mm CsI(Tl) crystals coupled to a custom array of low-noise Si PIN photodiodes read out by a custom IC. At 50 V bias the custom 64-pixel photodiode arrays demonstrate an average leakage current of 28 pA per 3 mm 3 mm pixel, a 98.5% yield of pixels with <100 pA leakage, and a quantum efficiency of about 80% for 540 nm CsI(Tl) scintillation photons. The custom 64-channel readout IC uses low-noise preamplifiers, shaper amplifiers, and a winner-take-all (WTA) multiplexer. The IC demonstrates maximum gain of 120 mV / 1000 e-, the ability to select the largest input signal in less than 150 ns, and low electronic noise at 8 ms peaking time ranging from 25 e- rms (unloaded) to an estimated 180 e- rms (photodiode load of 3 pF, 50 pA). At room temperature a complete 64-pixel detector module employing a custom photodiode array and readout IC demonstrates an average energy resolution of 23.4% fwhm and an intrinsic spatial resolution of 3.3 mm fwhm for the 140 keV emissions of 99mTc. Construction of an array of such imaging modules is straightforward, hence this technology shows strong potential for numerous compact gamma camera applications, including scintimammography.