THE ERROR PROBABILITY OF A PHOTOMULTIPLIER AS A THRESHOLD DETECTOR OF LOW LEVEL LIGHT PULSES,
Abstract
In the application of photomultiplier tubes as threshold detectors for low level light pulses, the statistical nature of the photo-emission and secondary emission processes give rise to a failure probability, defined here as the probability that, either: the noise exceeds a given threshold level, or: the signal amplitude is below the threshold level. In the following these are referred to as P sub f, the false alarm probability, and P sub d, the non-detection probability, respectively. This report describes the calculation of P sub f and P sub d and gives numerical values in curves for a photomultiplier with an S20 cathode and a gain of one million as a typical example. The calculations are based upon certain approximations, and Poisson statistics are assumed to be valid for the photoemission, the secondary emission and for the emission of noise electrons from the cathode (from background illumination and dark current).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 19, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0815674
Entities
People
- A. Solesvik
- Gang Wang
- T. Lund
Organizations
- Norwegian Defence Research Establishment