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- 2018
- Display Metrology
- dSiPM
- Quanta Image Sensor
- CMOS
- QIS
- Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
- Digital Silicon Photo-Multiplier
- Single Photon Avalanche Diode
- SPAD
- Optoelectronic Information Science and Engineering
- The University of Edinburgh
- STMicroelectronics Imaging Division
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Accidental contamination of substrates and polymer films by organic quantum emitters
摘要： We report the observation of ubiquitous contamination of dielectric substrates and polymethylmethacrylate matrices by organic molecules with optical activity in the visible spectral range. Contamination sites of individual solvent-related fluorophores in thin films of polymethylmethacrylate constitute fluorescence hotspots with quantum emission statistics and quantum yields approaching 30% at cryogenic temperatures. Our findings not only resolve prevalent puzzles in the assignment of spectral features to various nanoemitters on bare dielectric substrates or in polymer matrices, they also identify means for simple and cost-efficient realization of single-photon sources in the visible spectral range.
关键词： contamination of substrate and polymer matrix,organic fluorophores,single photon emitters,single molecule spectroscopy,Photoluminescence and fluorescence spectroscopy
更新于2025-11-25 10:30:42
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Towards polarisation-encoded quantum key distribution in optical fibre networks
摘要： Quantum key distribution – a process that encodes digital information – often utilises fibre optic technologies for commercial applications. Fibre provides the benefit of a dark channel as well as the convenience of independence of a line-of-sight connection between the sender and receiver. In order to implement quantum key distribution protocols utilising polarisation encoding, the birefringence effects of fibre must be compensated for. Birefringence is caused by manufacturing impurities in the fibre or a change in environmental conditions and results in a rotation of the state of polarisation of light as it is propagated through the fibre. With dynamic environmental conditions, the birefringence effects should be monitored with a test signal at regular time intervals so that the polarisation of each photon can be appropriately compensated to its original state. Orthogonal states are compensated simultaneously, but most protocols, such as BB84 and B92, require non-orthogonal basis sets. Instead of using a compensator for each basis, the presented scheme fixes the polarisation controller onto the plane on the Poincaré that passes through both bases, compensating both non-orthogonal bases simultaneously.
关键词： cryptography,fibre network,QKD,polarisation encoding,single photon
更新于2025-09-23 15:23:52
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A Low-Power, Inductorless Wideband Cryogenic Amplifier For Supercondcting Nanowire Single Photon Detector
摘要： This paper presents a low-power, inductorless wideband cryogenic amplifier for superconducting nanowire single photon detector (SNSPD). To achieve wide bandwidth, low power consumption and small chip area, a modified Cherry-Hooper amplifier topology is used. With good input and output match, at 4.2 K temperature the measurement results show that the amplifier achieves 23-dB gain with a flat gain response, a 3-dB bandwidth (BW) of over 3.4 GHz, which covers frequencies as low as 130 kHz. Fabricated in a 0.13-μm silicon germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS technology, the amplifier core occupies a silicon area of only 0.075 mm2 and consumes a power of only 4 mW.
关键词： low power,Cryogenic amplifier,wideband,Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors,SNSPD
更新于2025-09-23 15:23:52
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37ps-Precision Time-Resolving Active Quenching Circuit for High-Performance Single Photon Avalanche Diodes
摘要： Time-resolved imaging by means of single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) has achieved widespread interest in recent years, especially since technological progress has opened the way to the development of multichannel time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) acquisition systems. Unfortunately, currently available TCSPC imagers feature relatively low performance with respect to state-of-the-art single-channel systems. A real breakthrough in this field would be the exploitation of large arrays of high-performance SPAD detectors developed by means of dedicated fabrication processes, usually referred to as custom technology. Custom-technology SPADs require external electronics potentially leading to interconnection issues for densely integrated arrays. In this paper, we present a new fully integrated front-end circuit able to provide both quenching/reset and timing functionalities while requiring a single connection toward the SPAD. This is the first fully integrated circuit reported in literature that can provide both the timing information about the photon time of arrival with a jitter as low as 37 ps and apply high-voltage pulses up to 50 V in order to meet the requirements of several detectors, including the new red-enhanced SPAD. Combining these two capabilities in a single circuit strongly reduces the complexity of the connection between an array of custom-technology SPADs and the relative external front end, thus paving the way for the exploitation of high-performance SPADs in TCSPC imaging systems.
关键词： Active Quenching Circuit,AQC,timing,time-resolved,SPAD,Single Photon Avalanche Diode,SPAD front end
更新于2025-09-23 15:23:52
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Minimal Timing Jitter in Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Petectors
摘要： Using a two-temperature model coupled with the modified time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation, we calculate the delay time τd in the appearance of a growing normal domain in the current-biased superconducting strip after absorption of the single photon. We demonstrate that τd depends on the place in the strip where the photon is absorbed and monotonically decreases with an increasing current. We argue that the variation of τd (timing jitter), connected either with position-dependent response or Fano fluctuations, could be as small as the lowest relaxation time of the superconducting order parameter, approximately ?/kBTc (Tc is the critical temperature of the superconductor), when the current approaches the depairing current.
关键词： position-dependent response,timing jitter,superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors,delay time,Fano fluctuations
更新于2025-09-23 15:23:52
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Improvement of the critical temperature of NbTiN films on III-nitride substrates
摘要： In this paper, we study the impact of using III-nitride semiconductors (GaN, AlN) as substrates for ultrathin (11 nm) superconducting films of NbTiN deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering. The resulting NbTiN layers are (111)-oriented, fully relaxed, and they keep an epitaxial relation with the substrate. The higher critical superconducting temperature (Tc = 11.8 K) was obtained on AlN-on-sapphire, which was the substrate with smaller lattice mismatch with NbTiN. We attribute this improvement to a reduction of the NbTiN roughness, which appears associated to the relaxation of the lattice misfit with the substrate. On AlN-on-sapphire, superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) were fabricated and tested, obtaining external quantum efficiencies that are in excellent agreement with theoretical calculations.
关键词： single photon detector,superconductor,NbTiN,AlN,GaN
更新于2025-09-23 15:23:52
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Development of simultaneous PET and Compton imaging using GAGG-SiPM based pixel detectors
摘要： Positron emission tomography (PET) is considered an important and powerful tool for molecular imaging and medical diagnosis with its high sensitivity. Further, single-photon emission CT (SPECT) is another important imaging modality providing different types of information in medical diagnosis. On the other hand, Compton imaging is a promising technique for future molecular imaging with multi-nuclides based on Compton scattering kinetics. In this regard, previously, we have developed gadolinium aluminum gallium garnet (GAGG)-scintillation-based PET systems and GAGG-scintillation-based Compton imaging systems for environmental applications. Here, we propose and develop a novel PET–Compton hybrid simultaneous imager based on a two-layer structure using thin scatterers and thick absorbers for multi-nuclide imaging, for e.g., simultaneous imaging of PET and SPECT tracers such as 18F-FDG and 111In, respectively. For achieving good spatial resolution of the Compton imager, the energy resolution of the utilized scintillators forms one of the most important characteristics. In this regard, GAGG is a promising scintillator because of its high light yield of over 50 000 photon/MeV and excellent energy resolution of 4% with no background radiation and moderate decay time. In this study, we present the development of a simultaneous PET–Compton detector that consists of an 8 × 8 multi-pixel photon counter/SiPM (MPPC) array individually coupled with a 2.5 × 2.5 × 9-mm3 Ce:Gd3Ga2.7Al2.3O12 scintillators (absorbers) for proof of concept of simultaneous PET and SPECT imaging. The pixel size of the MPPC is 3 mm × 3 mm, and it is operated at 55 V at room temperature. The signals from the MPPC scintillators are individually amplified and converted with a dynamic time over threshold (dTOT) circuit to record the energy and timing information. In image reconstruction, the data acquired with the use of the developed modules are classified into events of either Compton imaging or PET imaging by coincidence detection between scatterer and absorber or between absorber and absorber, respectively. The coincidence events between absorber and absorber are regarded as PET annihilation-gamma events and those between scatterer and absorber are used as Compton imaging events. In our experiment, images of 111In and 18F-FDG, which are used as multi-nuclide tracers, are acquired simultaneously using the developed detector for Compton imaging and PET imaging. We believe that our approach is a significant step forward for medical imaging and related fields.
关键词： Scintillator,Single-photon emission CT,SiPM,Positron emission tomography,Compton imaging
更新于2025-09-23 15:23:52
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Single-Photon-Emission Computed Tomography with Neutron Activation for Material Inspection
摘要： A single-photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT) system with a lanthanum-bromide (LaBr3:Ce) scintillator was proposed and simulated to detect neutron-activated prompt γ-rays from suspicious materials. The optimized parameters of the SPECT system were calculated to achieve the best performance. Under the optimized conditions, energy spectra, spatial images, and elemental ratios were obtained and employed to identify hidden materials. The carbon-to-oxygen ratios of the materials calculated through the simulations were consistent with the corresponding theoretical values while the calculated nitrogen-to-oxygen ratios were slightly different from the corresponding theoretical values. In the proposed system, not only the energy spectrum of each element but also the characteristic intensity ratios obtained using the reconstructed images were used to identify the unknown elements of hidden materials in the three-dimensional spatial domain. These results demonstrate the feasibility of using the SPECT system in field applications.
关键词： Characteristic elemental intensity ratio,Neutron-activated prompt γ-rays,Single-photon-emission computed tomography
更新于2025-09-23 15:23:52
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Novel SPECT Technologies and Approaches in Cardiac Imaging
摘要： Recent novel approaches in myocardial perfusion single photon emission CT (SPECT) have been facilitated by new dedicated high-efficiency hardware with solid-state detectors and optimized collimators. New protocols include very low-dose (1 mSv) stress-only, two-position imaging to mitigate attenuation artifacts, and simultaneous dual-isotope imaging. Attenuation correction can be performed by specialized low-dose systems or by previously obtained CT coronary calcium scans. Hybrid protocols using CT angiography have been proposed. Image quality improvements have been demonstrated by novel reconstructions and motion correction. Fast SPECT acquisition facilitates dynamic flow and early function measurements. Image processing algorithms have become automated with virtually unsupervised extraction of quantitative imaging variables. This automation facilitates integration with clinical variables derived by machine learning to predict patient outcome or diagnosis. In this review, we describe new imaging protocols made possible by the new hardware developments. We also discuss several novel software approaches for the quantification and interpretation of myocardial perfusion SPECT scans.
关键词： fast myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography,quantification,single photon emission computed tomography,low dose,myocardial perfusion imaging,stress only
更新于2025-09-23 15:22:29
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Compact Real-Time Inter-Frame Histogram Builder for 15Bits High-Speed ToF-Imagers based on Single-Photon Detection
摘要： Time-of-flight image sensors based on single-photon detection, i.e. SPADs, require some filtering of pixel readings. Accurate depth measurements are only possible if the jitter of the detector is mitigated. Moreover, the time stamp needs to be effectively separated from uncorrelated noise such as dark counts and background illumination. A powerful tool for this is building a histogram of a number of pixel readings. Future generation of ToF imagers are seeking to increase spatial and temporal resolution along with the dynamic range and frame rate. Under these circumstances, storing the complete histogram for every pixel becomes practically impossible. Considering that most of the information contained by the histogram represents noise, we propose a highly efficient method to store just the relevant data required for ToF computation. This method makes use of the shifted inter-frame histogram (SifH). It requires a memory as low as 128 times smaller than storing the complete histogram if the pixel values are coded on up to 15 bits. Moreover, a fixed 28 words memory is enough to process histograms containing up to 215 bins. In exchange, the overall frame rate only decreases to one half. The hardware implementation of this algorithm is presented. Its remarkable robustness for a low SNR of the ToF estimation is demonstrated by Matlab simulations and FPGA implementation using input data from a SPAD camera prototype.
关键词： shifted inter-frame histogram (SifH),single-photon avalanche-diode (SPAD),real-time time-of-flight (ToF) estimation,ToF image sensor
更新于2025-09-23 15:22:29