Description
A single photon counting camera with nanosecond timestamping
Phoebe is a noise-free, high-speed, single photon counting camera package, optimised for quantum science applications. It features a timepix3 hybrid detector with red sensitive intensifier (200-920nm) for single photon sensitivity, with application specific LUNA software package from ASI.
The Phoebe hybrid pixel detector uses sophisticated on-chip electronics for real-time signal processing. Each pixel in Phoebe has its own individual threshold and event counter, enabling noise-free data acquisition. Unlike CCDs, you won’t need to conduct long experiments to integrate signals for an acceptable Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR). Phoebe offers ultra-high SNR since it only counts and time-stamps individual signals, allowing for sophisticated time-resolved data analysis.
Data is only read-out when an event, a “hit,” occurs on the sensor’s surface. This results in a more manageable data load, prioritising quality over quantity. In contrast to conventional CMOS technology, Phoebe eliminates the unwanted consequences of serial, frame-based read-out such as slow readout, binning, smearing effects.
Phoebe can precisely time-stamp data at a remarkable 1.56 ns granularity. But that’s not all – you can seamlessly synchronize external signals through a Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC), enhancing your time resolution by up to 260 ps. Using this information, you can select time-windows in your continuous data to create an image.
ASI’s, API (Serval) and GUI (Accos) facilitate cross-instrument control and data collection. You can configure the TDCs to integrate with external hardware such as a pulsed source. The acquisition workflow is fully programmable which allows for streamlined data collection.
Applications
• Time-correlated single photon counting imaging
• Quantum Science
• LIDAR
• Two-photon microscopy
Timepix3 Concept
Timepix3 is a radically different detection chip. Unlike frame-based camera concepts where data is only generated in pre-defined intervals (the ‘frame’), the Timepix3 chip generates data immediately after a particle hit.
The Timepix3 is therefore an event-counting detector where events can be differentiated with a time resolution of 1.56 nanoseconds. Every particle hit generates this information:
• ToA = Time of Arrival: defined as the time of signal level raising over the electronic threshold.
• ToT = Time over Threshold: representing the amount of charge deposited in the pixel – correlated to the energy of the particle.
• X,Y = Pixel coordinates
The Timepix3 chip has an intrinsic time resolution of 1.56 nanoseconds, i.e. the detector can record events with a theoretical frame rate of up to 640 million frames per second (= 1 / 1.56 ns).
The maximum achievable hit rate of one chip is defined by the readout electronics and is currently limited to 80 million hits per second.
