Links Below for operation and adjustment of the PV16 amplifier discriminator. Be sure to see BURST PULSE PV16 OUTPUT in PHOTOS under INTERFACES.
It is important to note that the Hamamatsu Hybrid APD output is most noisy when the APD bias is set to ZERO voltage irregardless of the cathode high voltage. Paradoxically, the noise goes DOWN very significantly when the APD is biased to about 150V up to the maximum of about 420v. One should operate the APD significantly below the breakdown specified in the data sheet as the PV16 will easily detect single photons with the -8000V supply when the APD is biased to about 350V to 370V. This provides a good safety range for temperature variations.
Typical Toggle at 1 GHz into TDS694C 3 GHz Oscilloscope The Blue line is the input at 10 mv/div and the top and bottom traces the PV16 output
Typical Output at 410 MHz The Blue line is the input at 10 mv/div. The top and bottom traces are the output of the PV16
The PV16 amplifier and photon counter are available at a fraction of the cost of competing products - $250.00 with power supply, adjustment tool, and SMA terminator.
The USB photon counter interface is available for low cost input. The input may be upgraded at any time to a high speed digital input card (DIO).
A DIO computer card and software have been tested for 400 MEGABYTE PER SECOND DATA SUSTAINED THROUGHPUT
Typical Toggle at 1 GHz into TDS694C 3 GHz Oscilloscope
Typical Output at 410 MHz