3rd March 2008, 06:52 pm
Incorporated 2004 in the Swiss city of Geneva, Photonique SA consists of one co-inventor and some of the leading researchers and technologists in the field of Solidstate Photomultipliers (SSPM) development. 
Building on their human capital, Photonique was in a position to offer commercial quality SSPMs within a couple months of its inception. From the outset, Photonique has been a pure-play SSPM developer - SSPMs are their business and all their resources and efforts are focused on this activity.
Over the years they have substantially improved their core technologies while adopting sensor performance to the requirements brought forward by their customers. Thanks to this effort, they can now offer the widest range of SSPM solutions available on the market. They have also invested significantly into sensor packaging, characterization methodologies, quality control and flexible, on-demand production. Their customers benefit from this through superior, predictable performance and ease of use.Photonique SA’s Vision:
The key advantages of SSPMs over Photomultiplier Tubes (PMTs) are well documented and now recognized by many large-volume PMT buyers. SSPMs still suffer teething problems such as high dark count rates, limited sensor size and production issues, but the current rate of development is quite extraordinary and will shortly position this technology as a bona fide substitute for most small area PMTs. This is vividly reflected in the rapidly growing number of companies and research groups attempting to design and produce such devices.
Continue reading ‘Solidstate Photomultipliers’ »
29th February 2008, 06:43 pm
In a significant breakthrough, researchers at Northwestern University’s Center for Quantum Devices (CQD) have demonstrated visible-blind avalanche photodiodes (APDs) capable of detecting single photons in the ultraviolet region (360-200 nm).
Previously, photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) were the only available technology in the short wavelength UV portion of the spectrum capable of single photon detection sensitivity. However, these fragile vacuum tube devices are expensive and bulky, hindering true systems miniaturization.
The Northwestern team, led by Manijeh Razeghi, Walter P. Murphy Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering, became the world’s first to demonstrate back-illuminated single photon detection from a III-nitride photodetector. These back-illuminated devices, based on GaN compound semiconductors, benefit from the larger ionization coefficient for holes in this material. The back-illumination geometry will facilitate future integration of these devices with read-out circuitry to realize unique single-photon UV cameras. Towards that end, the team has already demonstrated excellent uniformity of the breakdown characteristics and gain across the wafer.
Continue reading ‘Tiny Avalanche Photodiode Detects Single UV Photons’ »
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