Abstract

The purpose of our investigations was to characterize cooled silicon avalanche photodiodes (APD) and assess their suitability as photon counting detectors for photon correlation laser anemometry and spectroscopy. Until now, it has been usual to use specially selected single-photon counting photomultiplier tubes for photon correlation measurements. The photomultipliers are bulky, require kilovolt power supplies, and must provide very low afterpulsing and dark count performance; thus they are also expensive. Silicon APDs appear to offer a useful alternative.

© 1986 Optical Society of America