PMT ACTIVE BIAS Heifets2012
PMT ACTIVE BIAS Heifets2012
PMT ACTIVE BIAS Heifets2012
I. INTRODUCTION
A PMT is a photo-sensor, which combines two main parts:
The main function of all general purpose photo-detectors is • photo-cathode K, converting the input light intensity to
to convert an input light intensity to electrical output signal the electron flux intensity, i.e. to electrical current
with minimal error. • electron multiplier, consisting of:
There are many types of possible errors:
o Dynodes Dyl ..DyK, each of them amplifies electron
• linearity error- the photo-detector transfer function is not flux (electrical current), where the amplification
constant at different light intensities factor depends on the applied inter-electrode biasing
• transient error- transient distortions of the signal voltage;
• temporal error - the photo-detector transfer function is not o Anode P, collecting the amplified electron flux
constant in time (memory effect, etc.) (electrical current) and transmitting it to the load
• noise- shot noise, "thermal" noise, flicker noise, etc. amplifier for further processing.
For PMT operation with minimal error, the voltages on all
The typical photo-detector consists of three main parts: its electrodes (cathode K, all dynodes Dyl ..DyK, anode P)
• Photo-sensor, i.e. converter of the input light intensity have to be constant and independent of input light.
signal to the electrical signal. For the matter of this work,
it is a photo-multiplier tube (PMT).
• Photo-sensor biasing circuit, providing required photo
sensor operation conditions. For the matter of this work, it
is a voltage divider for PMT.
• A read-out amplifier, receiving the signal from the photo
sensor and amplifying it to the required level.
The FAVD was designed in order to improve performance
of the photo-sensor biasing circuit, i.e. PMT voltage divider.
From energy source
+
, PMT
,,
n 0i
P Todet
K ,
Vo
T = p:- = R X X op x G = K G-:
"
'-./
jlD
'-,..../
OV'
'-,-/
Oy(K-l)
!IDylU)
'-./
OV'
jlD l"Oild
In
i=l VI •
yl
b yK
D�
V2 V3. -V(K-l)'" V< VP
= /
R X kK X VD KXa) X op X G (2) C �
l
"
C fr
"
2 CO y3 O
1-
R (K-l
- �I
K R C Dy!
"
K+l)
808
response of the PMT that is adequate for many applications In Figure 6, a biasing circuit for 12 dynode PMT is shown.
can be achieved if the electrode currents are less than about Dynodes Dyl to Dy6 here are "low current" dynodes (i.e.
5% of the current through the voltage divider at lowest producing relatively low current levels) while Dy7 to Dy12
operating high voltage. This dramatically raises the voltage are "high current" dynodes. The PMT "high current" dynodes
divider power dissipation and requirements for HV power are supplied by transistors connected in an emitter-follower
supply capacity, making the solution almost unpractical for configuration serving like low output impedance buffers,
high dynamic range PMT application. while the PMT "low current" dynodes Dyl to Dy6 are
supplied by a passive voltage divider comprised solely of
B. Resistive voltage divider with booster
resistors. The voltages at "high current" dynodes are
A natural development of the "simple" resIstIve voltage established by the voltage divider comprised of resistors in the
divider circuit is a resistive circuit with current boosting. base circuits of transistors. The transistor buffers keep the
voltages across these dynodes almost constant, i.e.
1F{7=
b(Kl)
,
PMT independent of dynode current and therefore independent of
,
,
,
+--
Load
Vo incident light.
, P lode!
, This is not true however for the "low current" dynodes
� '-,-/ '-,-/ '-..-I '-,-/
,
" "" "" j where the voltages across the electrodes are built solely by a
L� b � ! 1
K .. Oy(K-l)
D
I V(K-l) lDyK 11Oi1d
- VI +
. . chain of resistors. Operating in low gain mode (and,
''''' '"
V2 • - V3+ V(K-l)+ VK VP
���T
CDy3 RD(K-l CDy(K+l)
correspondingly, with high incident light) the "low current"
I-
dynodes may carry considerably high currents that course
'" � '" � �) voltages between dynodes to vary with variation of incident
" " " "
U U
(R K+l)
light, i.e. cause non-linear distortion. The transients in the
Voltage divider
"low current" dynodes currents are followed by voltage
H
- VI HV2
transients at the output of high voltage power supply causing
t PMT gain modulation.
Fo
r m
HVlpowe,supply Fo
r m
HV2powe,supply
Figure 5 Resistive voltage divider with booster The current through the voltage divider is set by the current
source. In the voltage divider proposed by Kerns the current
This circuit combines few (practically two) resistive voltage source configuration makes this current to be proportional to
dividers where each divider is supplied by its own high HV. In PMT application with variable gain the last is set in the
voltage power supply. One power supply feeds the high range of GAINMIN to GAINMAX by HV setting in the range of
voltage divider with relatively low current for "low current" HVMIN to HVMAX. In high dynamic range light detectors the
dynodes, and another one supplies lower voltage with higher PMT maximum anode current is usually given, it does not
current to "high current" dynodes. The second high voltage depend on PMT gain, and this dictates the maximum required
power supply may be connected to any of the dynodes, current in the voltage divider. At GAINM1N (i.e. at HVMlN) the
divider current has to be sufficient for supporting the given
depending to the system requirements in terms of the PMT
maximum anode current. At GAINMAX (i.e. at HVMAX) the
gain range and others. Its advantage relative to the "simple"
HVm
current through the same divider is ax times more than it
resistive divider is that in total it allows to decrease HV
min
significantly the power dissipation of the PMT circuit. It is required. This increases power dissipation and raises
achieves this on account of reduced range of PMT gains. But requirements for HV power supply capacity.
other disadvantages of the resistive divider are still relevant The Kerns solution uses emitter followers on bipolar NPN
for this circuit architecture. transistors like buffers at the outputs of the resistive divider.
The transistors are connected in series and current through
C. Semi active voltage divider 1 (by Kerns) transistors is set by a current source. It shall be noted that the
In 1977 C.R. Kerns published a new solution for PMT same circuits could be built with source followers on N
voltage bias circuit with active loads [2]. The term "active" channel MOSFETs.
signifies the use of transistors in the voltage divider circuit, as
opposed to passive voltage divider comprised solely of The voltage followers are widely used in the known art.
resistors and capacitors. Their operation is described further in details.
, 01 " " " os 06 07 " " 010 011 012 "
[i , -' -' -' , -' He-�v
PMT
J J , J
SOQ
K Dy1 Dy2 Dy3 Dy4 Dy5 DyO Dy7 DyS Dy9 O ylO Dyll Dy12
Cl Cl Cl C1 Cl Cl
" " "
a a a a a
"D t1 OrqDqDt..tD :ID�
/.. �
Voltagedivi r
/
·HV Current source
,I V Div
'I
HVPowerSupply
(al (bl
Figure 6 "Semi-active" voltage divider, proposed by C.R.Kerns Figure 7 Voltage follower in PMT biasing circuit
809
MOSFETs and also "there does have to be at least one
The voltage follower (VF) maintains the dynode voltage to resistor, R in the active string in order to set the standing
be Voy = VOiv + fj. V, where fj. V is a Gate-Source voltage of current" through the string of P-channel MOSFETs. This
conducting MOSFET. In Figure 7 it is shown that, since a voltage divider provides PMT currents on demand without any
PMT is a current amplification device, a dynode is operating limitations, as they are required by illuminated PMT. The
as a current source producing a current loy, "seen" by the current from the power supply varies with illumination and
external circuit with PMT anode current. It means that high voltage power
lo = lo _out - IO jn supply experiences output current transients and therefore
y y y
generates voltage transients on its output, which in turn
The total current through the voltage divider is set by the
modulates the PMT gain.
current source and equal to
Ics = I + lo , resulting in I = Ics - lo E. Semi active voltage divider 2 (by Mitchell)
Q y Q y
The stand-by current through the voltage follower transistor Paul A. Mitchell from Burle Technologies, Inc., in his
with no dynode current (with no illumination) is set by the patent US 7,005,625 Bl , proposed PMT circuits with different
current source to Ics. voltage dividers, which are depicted in Figure 9.
As soon as illumination is rising, the dynode's current
lo starts to rise, but the Ics remains constant. Therefore,
y
simultaneously, a current through the voltage follower IQ
starts to decrease.
As soon as the dynode current loy approaches the current of
the current source Ics, the current through transistor IQ
O}If
approaches zero and the voltage across the transistor drops to
zero. At close to zero voltage between PMT electrodes the
accelerating electrical field collapses, effectively decreasing
the dynode current. PMT transfer function is not linear any
more, the dynode and anode currents are limited preventing
PMT degradation. This protective function is also an inherent
feature of the Kerns "semi-active" voltage divider, utilizing a
string of emitter followers connected in series. The first
transistor to be shut down with rising of illumination is an
(, ) (b)
emitter follower supplying the last dynode (closest to anode). m\
If the illumination continues to rise, the next (to the left on
Figure 6) dynode current increases; when it comes near the
current level of Ics, the second (to the left on Figure 6)
transistor shuts down. With further increase of photocathode �\
�\
incident light the process repeats until all transistors supplying
�{ �{
dynodes have become non-conducting. Until the current
source (marked on Figure 6 by red circle) functions properly
(the voltage across it is within a compliance voltage range) the
dynodes currents and the anode current are limited by the level
not exceeding the current generated by the current source.
D. Active voltage divider (by Electron Tubes Enterprises)
(0) (d)
Current source
HVPowerSupply
810
1. Desensitize the high voltage power supply to the current
transients, caused by PMT. This is done by use of a
current source (CS) at the HV power supply output,
connected in series. Simultaneously, it limits a total
current, consumed by the voltage divider and by the PMT.
2. Provide PMT electrode voltages with low output
impedance buffers: voltage followers are used to drive
each electrode. The voltages at the inputs of voltage
followers (VF) is set by high impedance resistive voltage
divider, connected directly to the HV power supply output
before CS. All VF-s are connected in series.
� m PMT
•
- VI t _ Vl + _ V3 t - V K-l t - VK +
Option (a) is a general view of the voltage multiplier with 1 1K 1 IDyl 1 IDyl ! 1Dy(K-l) ! IDyK
811
PMT
6
(K-l)
than a current limit, set by the CS. Therefore, all
measurements were performed in linear mode.
The measurements were done on DC with continuous light
of different intensities (DC) and with pulse modulated light
l ,'oad applied to the cathode.
During DC measurements the PMT inter-electrode voltages
were recorded at no light and at maximum linear anode
current (400 uA) for different high voltage values.
O(K+l)
HV power supply power consumption was recorded.
PMT maximum achievable gain was measured.
During transient response measurements, the input light
" R(K+l) (R K+2)
..,i--'---1f---'----+---' signal was modulated by the pulse with rise and fall time
C K
R C R(�+l) C (R K+2)
fW
PMT R7400 0.250 K-Dy1
0.150 Dy2-3
'--.-/ '-.-/ '-.-/ '-,.-/
K Dyl 0,6 0,7 DyS 0.100 Dy3-4
0.050 Dy4-5
�� �� �t
� I
0.000 Dy5-6
l n 1000 lOOn l n 50 lO 50 1000
Voltage divider
HVIV)
[VI
200to-1000V
.V
/'1
HVlpowersupply
812
Estimated �M/M [%] III
7.�.OO Run 1; Trig'd
.
u
20.00
15.00
� I
10.00 ( ill i\Il'l-i
� rWD+O 1 U. 2uln\'
�
� 1\ "" A:"
5.00 � FAvn
0.00
_
, J�0�
-5.00
�'120.0I1lS A f �S.OI1lV
Maximum achieved gain (at HV=lOOO V) for RVD+B
�M"y2012
configuration is ""200,000, and for FAVD configuration is .. 11. 20 °0 15: 32: 1 0
813
Figure 21 FAVD: oscillograms at gain M""SO,OOO
VI. DISCUSSION
VII. CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES
814