Least squares arrival time estimators for photons detected using a photomultiplier tube

Conference · Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1992 · IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States)

OSTI ID:6713989

Petrick, N; Hero, III, A O; Clinthorne, N H; Rogers, W L ^[1]

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1. Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor, MI (United States). Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

In many applications employing photodetectors, the determination of the arrival time of individual photons at the surface of the detector can be used to localize the photon source. For the case where the photon intensity is extremely low, the most common type of detector used is the photomultiplier tube. The optimal arrival time estimators for single and multiple photons arriving at the surface of a photomultiplier tube are developed in this paper. The optimal timing estimator considered is a weighted non-linear least squares estimate of the detection time for a high gain PMT with gaussian statistics. The lease squares estimator is constructed using the mean and covariance function of the photomultiplier output for different arrival times. The RMS error for the leant squares arrival time estimator was calculated and compared with the performance of other common timing estimators, including the first photoelectron timing estimators, using a Burle/RCE 8850 PMT.

• OSTI ID: 6713989
• Report Number(s): CONF-911106-; CODEN: IETNAE
• Journal Information: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States), Vol. 39:4; Conference: 1991 Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) nuclear science symposium and medical imaging conference, Santa Fe, NM (United States), 2-9 Nov 1991; ISSN 0018-9499
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
PHOTON BEAMS
CALCULATION METHODS
PHOTOMULTIPLIERS
LEAST SQUARE FIT
BEAMS
MAXIMUM-LIKELIHOOD FIT
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
PHOTOTUBES
440100* - Radiation Instrumentation
990200 - Mathematics & Computers