Single-photon imaging detector with \U0001d4aa(10) ps timing and sub-10 μm position resolutions

Abstract

We present the concept of a single-photon imager capable of detecting up to 109 photons per second with simultaneous measurements of position (5–10 μm resolution) and time (few tens of picosecond resolution) for each individual photon over an active area of 7 cm2. The detector is based on a “hybrid” concept: a vacuum tube, with a transparent input window on which a suitable photocathode material is deposited, a micro-channel plate and a pixelated read-out anode designed in 65 nm CMOS technology. These figures of merit will open many important applications allowing significant advances in particle physics, life sciences or other emerging fields where the detection of single photons with excellent timing and position resolutions are simultaneously required.