Timing resolution (FWHM) of some photon counting detectors and electronic circuitry

Abstract

An improved measurement scheme is proposed for the timing resolution of some commercially available photon detecting and counting APDs. The statistics of the time intervals corresponding to time of flight through passive media was recorded. Consequences of intrinsic photon arrival time ambiguity are taken into account. This improved scheme leads to better timing resolutions than claimed by the manufacturers. In one exemplary case the mean value is 31.2 ps instead of 40 ps. © 2007 IOP Publishing Ltd.