Recent advances in photon detectors have resulted in high-density imaging arrays that offer many performance and cost advantages. In particular, the excellent transit time spread of certain devices show promise to provide tangible benefits in applications such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET). Meanwhile, high-density, highperformance readout techniques have not kept on pace for exploiting these developments.Photodetector readout for next generation high event rate particle identification and time-resolved PET requires a highly-integrated, low-power, and cost-effective readout technique. We propose fast waveform sampling as a method that meets these criteria and demonstrate that sub-10ps resolution can be obtained for an existing device.
BackgroundRecent developments in high-density, high precision timing photodetectors are finding applications in Cherenkov detection techniques for particle identification, as well as medical imaging applications. This is true for both traditional vacuum-based [1] (Micro-Channel Plate, Hybrid Photo-Diode) and solid state [2] (Geiger-mode APD) photodetectors, and have resulted in lower cost, higher quantum efficiency, and improved transit-time-spread (TTS) photon detection options. Fig. 1 illustrates that without these improvements, the performance of large-scale Time-OfFlight (TOF) systems for precision spectrometers has stagnated at a resolution of about 100ps. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +001 808-956-2987.