Research on Avalanche Photodiode Based Photon Imaging System

In order to realize ultra low light level detection and fast response on military, the problems existing in present low light level (LLL) imaging systems are analyzed, a novel imaging system based on avalanche photodiode (APD) detector is proposed. This system is composed of optical system, avalanche photodiode, quench circuit, Peltier cooling setup, signal processing circuit, display element and power supplies. It has been proved that avalanche photodiode in Geiger mode adopted in the system can achieve the single photon detection. The imaging system based APD is all solid-state structure. The operating voltage of the system is less than 35 volts and the dark counts are about 4 Hz.