Microchannel-plate photomultiplier applicability to the time-correlated photon-counting method

Abstract

A microchannel‐plate photomultiplier (MCP‐PMT) has been applied to the time‐correlated single‐photon counting technique. Electrical and timing characteristics were investigated for the two types of MCP‐PMT’s, nonproximity type (Hamamatsu R1264) and proximity type (R1564), which are different in distance between the photocathode and MCP. In the proximity type, the transit‐time spread was found to be 60 ps, i.e., a factor of 4 shorter than that in conventional photomultipliers with a dynode string. It was concluded that both types of MCP‐PMT’s are fully applicable to the single‐photon counting method and that the proximity type MCP‐PMT in particular leads to further improvements in the cathode transit‐time difference and the wavelength effect of the timing properties. Some examples of experimental results are shown for fluorescence decay curves and picosecond time‐resolved spectra.