Paul Boughton
Royal Philips Electronics reports that its scientists have developed an innovative digital silicon photomultiplier technology that will allow faster and more accurate photon counting in applications where there is a need to measure ultra-low light levels.
Areas where the new technology could have a major impact include medical imaging, in particular positron emission tomography (PET), and in-vitro diagnostic tests such as DNA sequencing and protein/DNA microarrays. Other relevant areas include high-energy physics, night-vision systems and applications that currently use light detectors based on photomultiplier tubes. As with virtually all 'solid-state' alternatives, this new digital silicon photomultiplier technology should enable the production of smaller and lighter battery-powered equipment. Other important features of this new light detection technology include its robustness, low power consumption, light detection efficiency, and very high level of integration of the optical detection and associated electronic components.
Philips says the unprecedented performance of its prototype detector, in terms of speed and dark count level (background noise), will be presented at the IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference, which will take place from 25-31 October 2009 in Orlando, Florida, USA.
Prof Dr Ir Albert JP Theuwissen, professor at the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, and an expert in digital imaging, comments: "Silicon photomultipliers have many advantages over photomultiplier tubes in terms of size, weight, reliability, maintenance, power consumption and supply voltage. It is expected that the photomultiplier world very soon will be converted to silicon. The scientists at Philips have obtained ground-breaking results with their R&D work in the new field of silicon photomultipliers. For instance, as far as dark counts are concerned, they have set a world record with their prototype devices."
Rob Ballizany, vice president of Philips Corporate Technologies and the person responsible for commercialising this new technology, says: "Solid-state digital technology has already taken over from outdated analogue solutions in every-day applications such as TVs, camcorders and photography. Based on my many years experience of successfully switching the photographic industry from analogue to digital, I am convinced that high-end professional applications such as medical imaging will undergo a similar switch to digital detectors in the next few years."
The key to Philips' breakthrough lies in its ability to combine high-quality single-photon detectors (silicon avalanche photodiodes) with low-voltage CMOS logic on the same silicon substrate. Moreover, these new silicon photomultipliers can be manufactured using a conventional CMOS process technology.
Given the multidisciplinary nature of many of today's products and businesses, partnerships are the only way to successfully make progress. Bringing together such partnerships is one of the underlying principles behind Philips' policy of open innovation. Philips is actively looking for development partners with application expertise to exploit the market potential of its new digital silicon photomultiplier technology.
For more information, visit www.philips.com
Areas where the new technology could have a major impact include medical imaging, in particular positron emission tomography (PET), and in-vitro diagnostic tests such as DNA sequencing and protein/DNA microarrays. Other relevant areas include high-energy physics, night-vision systems and applications that currently use light detectors based on photomultiplier tubes. As with virtually all 'solid-state' alternatives, this new digital silicon photomultiplier technology should enable the production of smaller and lighter battery-powered equipment. Other important features of this new light detection technology include its robustness, low power consumption, light detection efficiency, and very high level of integration of the optical detection and associated electronic components.
Philips says the unprecedented performance of its prototype detector, in terms of speed and dark count level (background noise), will be presented at the IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference, which will take place from 25-31 October 2009 in Orlando, Florida, USA.
Prof Dr Ir Albert JP Theuwissen, professor at the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, and an expert in digital imaging, comments: "Silicon photomultipliers have many advantages over photomultiplier tubes in terms of size, weight, reliability, maintenance, power consumption and supply voltage. It is expected that the photomultiplier world very soon will be converted to silicon. The scientists at Philips have obtained ground-breaking results with their R&D work in the new field of silicon photomultipliers. For instance, as far as dark counts are concerned, they have set a world record with their prototype devices."
Rob Ballizany, vice president of Philips Corporate Technologies and the person responsible for commercialising this new technology, says: "Solid-state digital technology has already taken over from outdated analogue solutions in every-day applications such as TVs, camcorders and photography. Based on my many years experience of successfully switching the photographic industry from analogue to digital, I am convinced that high-end professional applications such as medical imaging will undergo a similar switch to digital detectors in the next few years."
The key to Philips' breakthrough lies in its ability to combine high-quality single-photon detectors (silicon avalanche photodiodes) with low-voltage CMOS logic on the same silicon substrate. Moreover, these new silicon photomultipliers can be manufactured using a conventional CMOS process technology.
Given the multidisciplinary nature of many of today's products and businesses, partnerships are the only way to successfully make progress. Bringing together such partnerships is one of the underlying principles behind Philips' policy of open innovation. Philips is actively looking for development partners with application expertise to exploit the market potential of its new digital silicon photomultiplier technology.
For more information, visit www.philips.com
