Cooled photomultiplier tube-based photodetector with reduced condensation and associated apparatus and method

摘要

The photodetector includes a cooling device between a photomultiplier tube (PMT) device and a heat sink. The thermally conductive shield encapsulates the PMT device and the cooling device and is in thermal contact with the heat sink such that the heat sink transfers heat to the shield. The photodetector may be included in a sample analyzer configured to perform an optical measurement of the sample. In one embodiment, the method of analyzing the sample is to operate a photodetector cooling device to cool the PMT, where heat is shielded to prevent condensation on or in the photodetector. And inducing the emission of light from the sample, and transmitting the light emitted from the sample to a photodetector.