A highly sensitive pickup tube using avalanche multiplication in an amorphous selenium photoconductive target and its applications

Kenkichi Tanioka

doi:10.1117/12.2614607

3 March 2022 A highly sensitive pickup tube using avalanche multiplication in an amorphous selenium photoconductive target and its applications

Kenkichi Tanioka

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12025, Ultra-High-Definition Imaging Systems V; 1202506 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2614607
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2022, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

In 1985, the author found for the first time that an experimental pickup tube (camera tube) with an amorphous selenium (a-Se) photoconductive target exhibits high sensitivity with quantum efficiency in greatly excess of unity under an applied target electric field greater than 9x10⁷ V/m. This phenomenon results from a continuous and stable avalanche multiplication in the photoconductive target. We named the pickup tube with an amorphous photoconductive target operating in the avalanche-mode “HARP”: High-gain Avalanche Rushing amorphous Photoconductor. A color camera equipped with the HARP tubes with a target film thickness of 25 µm has a maximum sensitivity of 11 lx at F8. This means that the HARP camera is about 100 times as sensitive as that of CCD cameras for broadcasting. This ultra-high sensitivity HARP pickup tube was a powerful tool for reporting breaking news at night and other low-light conditions, the production of scientific programs, and numerous other application, including medical diagnoses, biotech research, and nighttime surveillance. It is expected that this high-sensitivity technology for image sensors will be useful for highsensitivity 8K UHD cameras in the near future.

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Citation Download Citation

Kenkichi Tanioka "A highly sensitive pickup tube using avalanche multiplication in an amorphous selenium photoconductive target and its applications", Proc. SPIE 12025, Ultra-High-Definition Imaging Systems V, 1202506 (3 March 2022); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2614607

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