By Dr M. C. Nelson, Copyright 2020-2026
This is a placeholder for a photon counting and tagging device with 25 picosecond resolution, comprisong a cooled silicon photo-multiplier (SiPM), a amplifier and time to digital converter (TDC) board with an SPI interface, and a system controller based on a Teensy 4.x. Bill of materials costs are currently under $40 for each of the sensor, and the amplifier and time to digital converter. We are asking for contributors and sponsors to move the project forward.
Measuring and recording arrival times and counts for single photons, is a cornerstone capability for studying fluorescent lifetimes and a wide range of quantum phenomenon. Normally these experiments can only be done in well funded well equipped laboratories. The planned device will bring this capability within in the range that almost any researcher might afford out of pocket.
Note bene: The designs here are notional and for purposes of illustration only. The actual circuits will be posted after we have built the first boards and verified the design.
The system will be operatied by either of our Teensy 4.0 based controller our Teensy 4.1 based controller. These are preferred over the UNO R4 because the T4 provides faster transfers between both the TDC and controller and between the controller and host computer and because it has the faster more capable M7 cross-over processor. The T4.1 can host 16MB of local RAM. The controllers have standardized interfaces for signals and power for all of the boards in our SPI instrumentation project.
Please consider sponsoring (click the button at the top of the page). We will offer boards for sponshorships covering the costs to assemble the first prototypes. Pleae contact me if interested.