EFFICIENT USE OF DETECTORS WITH LONG DEAD TIMES

摘要

The invention provides a system and method for generating a sequence of primary signal pulses (220) in a primary signal pulse source at intervals tau s(250); recording detection by a primary signal pulse detector of at least two pulses (240) of said sequence of primary signal pulses in a detector, said detector having an effective detector dead time (290) after a detection during which said primary signal pulse detector is insensitive to primary signal pulses; and wherein tau s, is smaller than tau d. The system and method of the invention provide for rapid gating of the detector thereby lowering dark counts. The system and method of the invention further comprise correlating times of generation of primary signal pulses in said sequence to times of detections in said detector, thereby defining pulse-detection pairs associating each detection with an element in said sequence.