Hamamatsu Photonics has introduced a brand new hybrid photodetector module, the H10777. The hybrid photodetector (HPD) dispenses with the traditional metal dynodes found within a conventional photomultiplier tube (PMT) and instead photoelectrons are accelerated in a high electric field onto a silicon avalanche diode target, which is connected to form the cathode/output of the device.
The advantage of the HPD construction is single photoelectron resolution capability, combined with very fast response compared to conventional PMTs. Two versions of the H10777 are available, a bialkali tube with spectral response range from 220nm to 650nm, and a GaAsP semi-conductor cathode version working from 300nm to 720nm, with a peak QE of >45 per cent.
The H10777-01 offers a TTS (transit time spread) of 35ps FWHM. Intended applications include fluorescence lifetime measurements (using TCSPC = time correlated photon detection methods), time-of-flight measurements in high-energy physics experiments, lidar, biomedical research, atmospheric pollution measurement, laser scanning microscopy and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy.