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Photomultiplier
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<p>A photomultiplier is a device that converts <a href="/facts/Incident_photon/mFNhAEzA">incident photons</a> into an <a href="/facts/Electrical_signal/41YqUJ8c">electrical signal</a>. </p><p>Kinds of photomultiplier include: </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Photomultiplier_tube/bjbB9fBE">Photomultiplier tube</a>, a <a href="/facts/Vacuum_tube/VHd1BNLq">vacuum tube</a> converting incident photons into an electric signal. Photomultiplier tubes (PMTs for short) are members of the class of <a href="/facts/Vacuum_tube/VHd1BNLq">vacuum tubes</a>, and more specifically vacuum <a href="/facts/Phototube/JUfNjJ1j">phototubes</a>, which are extremely sensitive detectors of light in the <a href="/facts/Ultraviolet/kncBUqn5">ultraviolet</a>, <a href="/facts/Visible_light/jeofpMn4">visible</a>, and <a href="/facts/Near-infrared/44XdJNcc">near-infrared</a> ranges of the <a href="/facts/Electromagnetic_spectrum/24LARvFY">electromagnetic spectrum</a>. <ul><li><a href="/facts/Magnetic_photomultiplier/bjbB9fBE">Magnetic photomultiplier</a>, developed by the Soviets in the 1930s.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Electrostatic_photomultiplier/bjbB9fBE">Electrostatic photomultiplier</a>, a kind of photomultiplier tube demonstrated by <a href="/facts/Jan_A._Rajchman/SvI7DcXB">Jan Rajchman</a> of RCA Laboratories in Princeton, NJ in the late 1930s which became the standard for all future commercial photomultipliers. The first mass-produced photomultiplier, the Type 931, was of this design and is still commercially produced today.</li></ul></li> <li><a href="/facts/Silicon_photomultiplier/fg5Mx48B">Silicon photomultiplier</a>, a <a href="/facts/Solid-state_device/US0Qbq28">solid-state device</a> converting incident photons into an electric signal. Silicon photomultipliers, often called "SiPM" in the literature, are <a href="/facts/Solid-state_electronics/US0Qbq28">solid-state</a> single-<a href="/facts/Photon/mFNhAEzA">photon</a>-sensitive devices based on <a href="/facts/Single-photon_avalanche_diode/hM6IemhN">Single-photon avalanche diode</a> (SPAD) implemented on common silicon substrate.</li></ul>