Radiation Free Photon Detection Device

Researchers at UCLA have developed a Hybrid Avalanche Photodiode (HAPD) that exhibits enhanced sensitivity by eliminating radiation contamination that arises from materials present in traditional photomultipliers. 

As the demand for photon detectors with greater sensitivity increases, Avalanche Photodiodes (APD) are being incorporated in conventional photomultiplier tubes (PMT) due to their high quantum conversion efficiency and small size. Nonetheless, the performance of these HAPD devices is degraded by the background noise that is radiated from the radioactive impurities contained in the photomultiplier components.     

Researchers at UCLA have designed an ultra-low background HAPD device that is built primarily with ultra-pure quartz material which possesses intrinsically low radioactive contaminations. As a result, the residual background that remains in conventional HAPD devices is reduced by a factor of 100, leading to imaging techniques with higher resolution and accuracy.  

Theoretical study is competed, prototype in progress.