Improved timing resolution using small side-on photomultipliers in single photon counting

Abstract

The time-resolution capabilities of two 28-mm-diam side-on photomultiplier tubes, Hamamatsu R928 and RCA 931-A, were studied by point illumination of the photocathode surface with the attenuated beam of a synchronously pumped dye laser (10-ps pulse width). Using the time-correlated single photon counting technique, an apparatus response of 112 ps FWHM was obtained. Contour maps giving the time shift and the width of the response were constructed as a function of the point of illumination of the photocathode surface. These data permit selection of the optimized photocathode region to be illuminated during fluorescence decay measurements.

Photoisomerization Kinetics of Stilbene-Type Fluorescent Whitening Agents

“…Picosecond Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting for Determining Fluorescence Lifetimes. Time-resolved fluorescence experiments were performed using a typical arrangement for time-correlated single photon counting (TC-SPC) (16). The excitation source consists of a mode-locked frequency-doubled Coherent Antares Nd:YAG Laser system and a synchronously pumped extended sulforhodamine B dye laser.…”

Avalanche detector with ultraclean response for time-resolved photon counting

“…Photomultiplier tubes (PMT) have been the traditional detector for use in the TCSPC. With dynode-string PMT's, the available FWHM has evolved from about 500 ps in the 1960's to about 200 ps in the late 1970's [5]; values down to 115 ps have been obtained with monochromatic illumination of a small area using side-on PMT's [6]. The development of the microchannel-plate (MCP) PMT in the 1980's brought further progress; the FWHM value has improved from 300 ps down to about 20 ps [5], [7].…”