Photon counting performance measurements of transfer electron InGaAsP photocathode hybrid photomultiplier tubes at 1064 nm wavelength

We report the test results of a hybrid photomultiplier tube (HPMT) with a transfer electron (TE) InGaAsP photocathode and GaAs Schottky avalanche photodiode (APD) anode. Unlike Geiger mode InGaAsP APDs, these HPMTs (also known as intensified photodiode (IPD), vacuum APD, or hybrid photodetector) operate in linear mode without the need for quenching and gating. Their greatest advantages are wide dynamic range, high speed, large photosensitive area, and potential for photon counting and analog detection dual mode operation. The photon detection efficiency we measured was 25% at 1064 nm wavelength with a dark count rate of 60,000/s at -22 degrees Celsius. The output pulse width in response to a single photon detection is about 0.9 ns. The maximum count rate was 90 Mcts/s and was limited solely by the speed of the discriminator used in the measurement (10 ns dead time). The spectral response of these devices extended from 900 to 1300 nm. We also measured the HPMT response to 60 ps laser pulses. The average output pulse amplitude increased monotonically with the input pulse energy, which suggested that we can resolve photon number in an incident pulse. The jitter of the HPMT output was found to be about 0.5 ns standard deviation and depended on bias voltage applied to the TE photocathode. To our knowledge, these HPMTs are the most sensitive non gating photon detectors at 1064 nm wavelength, and they will have many applications in laser altimeters, atmospheric lidars, and free space laser communication systems.