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Visible-light Photon Counter
A Visible Light Photon Counter (VLPC) is a photon counting photodetector based on impurity-band conduction in arsenic-Doping (semiconductor), doped silicon. They have high quantum efficiency and are able to detect single photons in the visible spectrum, visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum. The ability to count the exact number of photons detected is extremely important for quantum key distribution. Rockwell International#Research laboratory, Rockwell International's Science Center had previously announced the "Solid-State Photomultiplier" (SSPM), a wide-band (0.4–28 μm) detector.M.D. Petroff, M.G. Stapelbroek and W.A. Kleinhans: "Detection of Individual 0.4–28 μm Wavelength Photons via Impurity‐Impact Ionization in a Solid‐State Photomultiplier" ''Applied Physics Letters'' 51(6) pp.406-408 (1987) In the late 1980s a collaboration – initially consisting of Rockwell and University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA – began developing scintillating-fib ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Photon Counting
Photon counting is a technique in which individual photons are counted using a single-photon detector (SPD). A single-photon detector emits a pulse of signal for each detected photon. The counting efficiency is determined by the quantum efficiency and the system's electronic losses. Many photodetectors can be configured to detect individual photons, each with relative advantages and disadvantages. Common types include photomultipliers, geiger counters, single-photon avalanche diodes, superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors, transition edge sensors, and scintillation counters. Charge-coupled devices can be used. Advantages Photon counting eliminates gain noise, where the proportionality constant between analog signal out and number of photons varies randomly. Thus, the excess noise factor of a photon-counting detector is unity, and the achievable signal-to-noise ratio for a fixed number of photons is generally higher than the same detector without photon counting. Pho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |