Performance of photomultipliers in the context of laser-induced incandescence.

Abstract

Photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) are widely used as detectors for laser-induced incandescence (LII), a diagnostics method for gas-borne particles that requires signal detection over a large dynamic range with nanosecond time resolution around the signal peak. Especially when more than one PMT is used (i.e., for pyrometric temperature measurements) even small deviations from the linear detector response can lead to significant errors. Reasons for non-linearity observed in other PMT measurement techniques are summarized and strategies to identify non-linear PMT operation in LII are outlined. To quantify the influence of the non-linear behavior, experiments at similar light levels as those encountered in LII measurements are carried out, and errors propagated in two-color pyrometry-derived temperatures are determined. As light sources, a calibrated broadband light source and light-emitting diodes (LEDs), centered at the bandpass filter wavelengths of the LII detectors, were used. The LEDs were operated in continuous and pulsed (<300 ns) mode, respectively, to simulate DC background radiation (e.g., from sooting flames) and similar pulsed signal traces as in typical LII measurements. A measured linearity deviation of up to 10% could bias the temperature determination by several hundred Kelvin. Guidelines are given for the design and the operation of LII setups, which allow users to identify and prevent errors.