Recent photonic detectors

Recent improvements in analytical cytology instrumentation require the ultimate in performance from photosensors. Increases in sensitivity, extension of the spectral sensitivity range into the red, improvement of the response time and linear/area sensing are needed. This paper will introduce various photosensors recently developed by Hamamatsu. They will be sorted into groups based on performance or functional criteria as follows: (1) Photosensors: 1.1 Spectral response; We will present the variations in photoemissive materials for photomultiplier tubes (PMT) and solid state devices (SSD). 1.2 High speed; A list of high speed photosensors will be presented. In addition, we will introduce a compact module for phase modulation which is suitable for fluorescence analysis at a fast time range. 1.3 Gating; We will introduce a fast PMT gating module suitable for fluorescence measurement. The operating principle and characteristics are discussed. (2) Image sensors: a newly developed image sensor for spectroscopy will be introduced. They are Si linear image sensors for spectroscopy, InGaAs C-MOS linear image sensors for spectroscopy and full frame transfer (FFT) CCD's for low light imaging. We will discuss the outline and the characteristics of these sensors.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.