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Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) have emerged as leading photon detectors in experimental physics since their introduction in the late 1990s. With performance characteristics superior to those of traditional photodetectors, SiPMs exhibit up to 60% photon detection efficiency, rapid signal rise times, and resistance to magnetic fields. Their solid-state construction enables mass production, compactness, and high spatial resolution, facilitating their integration into a wide range of experimental setups. Although susceptible to radiation damage, mitigation strategies are being studied to allow their reliable operation even in environments with elevated radiation levels. SiPMs excel in detecting low levels of light, making them well suited for applications involving scintillation and Cherenkov light. Their ability to operate effectively at cryogenic temperatures allows the construction of a new class of multi-tons rare event search experiments such as Darkside-20k. Insensitivity to the magnetic field and mitigation of the radiation damages are making SiPMs well-suited to be used in accelerator driven physics such as Cherenkov light detectors for Particle IDentification (PID) in the future Electron Ion Collider (EIC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a literature survey on the recent developments related to experimental and modeling studies of transient luminous events (TLEs) in the middle atmosphere termed elves, sprites and jets that are produced in association with thunderstorm activity at tropospheric altitudes. The primary emphasis is placed on publications that appeared in refereed literature starting from year 2008 and up to the present date. The survey covers general phenomenology of TLEs and their relationships to characteristics of individual thunderstorms and lightning, physical mechanisms and modeling of TLEs, past, present and future orbital observations of TLEs, and their chemical, energetic and electric effects on local and global scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]