Especially made for wavelengths in the near infrared, Laser Components has introduced the single photon counting module Count NIR. The company says it has a notable detection efficiency of 60 per cent at 810nm and achieves a maximum detection efficiency of almost 80 per cent at 700nm.
Dark count rates of less than 50 photons per second are common. To operate this module, TTL pulses can be used: for this purpose, the Count is equipped with a gating input. The power is connected using a 12V power supply.
If conventional detectors are unable to distinguish between signal and noise, then single-photon detectors are used. These detectors have a high detection efficiency at a low dark count rate similar to Laser Components‘ silicon-based single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs). When equipped with electronics, they become easy-to-use photon counting modules.
The Count NIR development has been pushed because of experiments in fundamental research where light quanta play a crucial role. Many experiments are conducted in the wavelength range around 810nm, for example, in quantum optics and quantum information.
The Count NIR
