  Most detector systems used for positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) are
very expensive due to the use of inorganic plastic scintillators combined with
a high number of readout electronic channels. This work aims to reduce the
overall cost of a PEPT-capable detector system by using large and
cost-effective plastic scintillators and developing custom 2 x 2 silicon
photomultiplier (SiPM) arrays, preamplifiers, and discriminators. The use of
long (20 mm x 20 mm x 1000 mm) plastic scintillator bars read out with
photodetectors only at their respective ends allows an overall smaller number
of photodetectors and associated readout electronics, which in turn reduces the
overall cost of the system. In addition, the development of a custom SiPM array
and preamplifier allows a free selection of interconnection and readout, as
most commercial producers only offer specific types of interconnections and
therefore lack other connections such as serial or hybrid. Thus, several common
circuit types for SiPMs and preamplifiers were tested and compared in this
work, and it was found that a serial connection implemented in a hybrid
interconnection for the SiPMs and an inverting preamplifier based on a
high-frequency operational amplifier provided the best results for the proposed
detector system. Measured with a Na-22 source, the combination of SiPM array
and preamplifier led to a rise time of 3.7 ns and a signal amplitude of 175 mV.
