Urgent Need for a High Speed, Highly Sensitive Near-Infrared Photodetection System

我们迫切需要一种高灵敏度的近红外光探测系统来对900-1700 nm光谱范围内的光和电致发光进行稳态和时间分辨测量，以便探测1)体异质结有机太阳能电池中的电荷转移(CT)激子，2)近红外发射胶体量子点的低温光致发光，3)单分子传感免疫分析和4)近红外三重态发射体的量子产额和寿命。目前，在UofA、NRC-NINT或艾伯塔省的任何地方都没有一套这样的近红外光电探测系统。由于缺乏测量900-1700 nm光谱范围内微弱光致发光和电致发光的仪器，限制了纳米材料、有机电子学和光子器件方面的一些研究项目的进展。常用的冷式锗基探测器在速度和灵敏度方面都受到严重限制。上述领域的前沿工作要求近红外光电倍增管(PMT)具有百万倍的无噪声内部增益，具有高达1700 nm的光谱灵敏度，同时保持低于2 ns的响应时间。

We urgently require a highly sensitive near-infrared photodetection system to perform the steady-state and time-resolved measurement of photo- and electroluminescence in the spectral region of 900-1700 nm in order to probe 1) Charge Transfer (CT) excitons in bulk heterojunction organic solar cells 2) Low temperature photoluminescence of near-IR emitting colloidal quantum dots 3) Single molecule sensing immunoassays and 4) Quantum Yield and Lifetime of near-IR triplet emitters. There is currently not a single such near-infrared photodetection system available anywhere at the UofA or at NRC-NINT or anywhere in the province of Alberta. The absence of an instrument to measure faint photo- and electroluminescence in the spectral region of 900-1700 nm is limiting progress on a number of research projects in nanomaterials, organic electronics and photonic devices. The commonly used cooled Germanium based detectors are severely limited in both speed and sensitivity. Cutting edge work in the above fields demands the million-fold noiseless internal gain of near infrared photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), that possess spectral sensitivity up to 1700 nm while retaining a response time under 2 ns.