Hamamatsu Photonics has introduced a new streak camera with sensitivity in the near infrared region up to 1,650nm. Like other streak cameras, the C11293 model simultaneously records intensity vs. time vs. position (or wavelength) with very high temporal resolution.
Up to now, photocathode material available for streak measurements at >1,000nm has been the so-called S-1 material. S-1 material features excellent temporal resolution of better than 1ps, but suffers from low quantum efficiencies at longer wavelengths. Hamamatsu Photonics’ new streak photocathode is made of InP/InGaAs. This photocathode has a sensitivity several orders of magnitude higher than S-1, and also extends its range up to 1,650nm, where S-1 is unsuitable.
A crucial characteristic of all IR detectors is their dark current. In order to suppress the dark current, and thereby make the device suitable for low-light-level applications, the photocathode operates at a working temperature of approximately -100°C by means of liquid nitrogen cooling.
The time resolution of the C11293 is better than 20ps FWHM. It can run at arbitrary repetition rates up to a maximum of 20 MHz, making it very versatile and easy to combine with many experimental setups.
The C11293 NIR streak camera is ideally suited to a wide range of application areas including time-resolved spectroscopy in semiconductor physics, quantum dots, carbon nanotubes and other nanostructure research, photovoltaic research, photonics crystals, and many others.
