Whether your application is a large area radiation detection, a benchtop instrument or a higher tier laboratory analysis instrument, the SPM Series will provide significant benefit over existing detector platforms.
The SPM Series High Gain Avalanche Photodiodes are the first solid state alternative to the long established Photomultiplier Tube (PMT). These devices combine the high gain (10⁶) and high quantum efficiency of the PMT with the well appreciated benefits of silicon including size, low operating voltage, robustness, reliability, magnetic field insensitivity, tolerance of excess/ambient light and suitability for miniaturization. In addition, this novel design has a high signal to noise ratio and a very fast pulse response.
The detector consists of an array of Geiger mode Avalanche Photodiodes (APDs), each individually coupled to integrated quench electronics, and is a type of detector commonly referred to as a Silicon Photomultiplier (SPM). Geiger mode APDs have extremely high internal amplification that allows single photon sensitivity at room temperature. The output of a Geiger mode APD is an identical, fixed charge or current pulse for each single photon detected. By connecting an array of Geiger mode APDs in parallel, the summed output becomes proportional to the number of Geiger mode pulses and hence ...

Whether your application is a large area radiation detection, a benchtop instrument or a higher tier laboratory analysis instrument, the SPM Series will provide significant benefit over existing detector platforms.
The SPM Series High Gain Avalanche Photodiodes are the first solid state alternative to the long established Photomultiplier Tube (PMT). These devices combine the high gain (10⁶) and high quantum efficiency of the PMT with the well appreciated benefits of silicon including size, low operating voltage, robustness, reliability, magnetic field insensitivity, tolerance of excess/ambient light and suitability for miniaturization. In addition, this novel design has a high signal to noise ratio and a very fast pulse response.
The detector consists of an array of Geiger mode Avalanche Photodiodes (APDs), each individually coupled to integrated quench electronics, and is a type of detector commonly referred to as a Silicon Photomultiplier (SPM). Geiger mode APDs have extremely high internal amplification that allows single photon sensitivity at room temperature. The output of a Geiger mode APD is an identical, fixed charge or current pulse for each single photon detected. By connecting an array of Geiger mode APDs in parallel, the summed output becomes proportional to the number of Geiger mode pulses and hence proportional to the incident photon flux. The uniform high gain across the array allows the single photoelectron peaks to be clearly resolved permitting both single photon detection and accurate calibration of the photon number.
The SPM Series APDs are available with an active area of 1x1mm² or 3x3mm², housed in a hermetically sealed TO8 can and mounted on a two-stage Peltier cooler. During normal operation the detector is cooled to –20°C. This allows even greater performance over room temperature operation as the dark count is typically reduced by an order of magnitude.
To further optimize the performance of these detectors, two pre-amplifier types are available:
The transimpedance amplifier version (-T) converts raw current into a voltage, with a gain of 470V/A. This version is ideal for applications that require detection of continuous (CW) signals where integration of the signal is done over time. One application is cell imaging or DNA micro-arrays where it is desired to integrate the optical signal from a sample for periods from 1ms to 1ms in time.
The pulse amplifier version (-P) allows the fast rise time of the detector to be exploited and provides the simplest way to accurately bring pulse information to the user. With an internal gain of 20, this version is optimized for detecting individual photon peaks, such as in ranging applications, a scintillation experiment or in high energy physics.
The SPM Series detectors are supplied with an integrated power supply and can be post-mounted via a tapped hole located on the bottom of the housing. An optional C-Mount adapter is available for attaching filters and light collection lenses.