A cooled avalanche photodiode with high photon detection probability

摘要

An avalanche photodiode has been operated as a photon-counting detector with 2 to 3 times the sensitivity of currently-available photomultiplier tubes. APD (avalanche photodiodes) detection probabilities that exceed 27% and approach 50% have been measured at an optimum operating temperature which minimizes noise. The sources of noise and their dependence on operating temperature and bias voltage are discussed.