Schematic drawing of an imaging photon detector. A single photoelectron is created on the photocathode and then detected using an advanced gas-electron multiplier.
The study of photoemission is motivated by the need to
develop imaging photon detectors of large area and high sensitivity. We
are mainly working on photoemission from solid film, which can be
incorporated inside gaseous detectors.
Investigation of the
photoemission properties of solid convertors for UV and visible light, in
vacuum and in gas. The work covers experimental research and theoretical
modeling.
UV photocathodes are alkali-halides (CsI, CsBr) and CVD
diamond films.
Diamond films are very attractive new solar blind convertors; we are
currently investigating ways of modifying their surface properties to
enhance their photoemission.
Publications
We study
alkali-antimonide
visible photocathodes, bare or coated with protective films. The coated
alkali-antimonides were shown to withstand operation under gas
amplification inside the gas avalanche imaging photomultipliers. This
paves new ways towards very fast, large area, high accuracy cameras for
visible light. Publications
Development of large area photon
detectors based
on a solid photocathode coupled to a gaseous electron multiplier.
Such devices have the capability to efficiently localize single
photons with sub-mm precision and nanosecond time resolution,
under very high photon flux impact. There are numerous
applications for these detectors in science and medical imaging.
Publications
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