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Multianode PMT Fundamentals
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"Multiple-Anode PMT Behaves Like Many Detectors in One",
Yong-Le Pan and Richard K. Chang, Laser Focus World, Volume 37, Issue 5, May 2001
Equivalent to having multiple photomultiplier tubes located in a single housing, the multiple-anode PMT can detect both the temporal and spatial distribution of signal intensity. The photomultiplier tube (PMT) is well-known as a single-photon-sensitive detector that measures the intensity as a function of time, well into the gigahertz range. The PMT cannot, however, measure the spatial distribution of the intensity. Nevertheless, the PMT is one of the detectors most frequently used in laboratory experiments and optical instrumentation. By contrast, a charge-coupled-device (CCD) detector - because of its numerous pixels - can measure the spatial variation of the intensity, but cannot measure frame changes at rates greater than 100 Hz.
"Photomultipliers Detect Rare Events",
Ken Kaufmann, Hamamatsu Corporation, Laser Focus World, October 2000
The detection of rare or short-duration events often uses a light-based system because of the availability of very sensitive light detectors such as photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). These devices convert the optical photons to an electrical signal and then amplify it as much as a million times. While most amplifiers add some noise to the signal, PMT amplification is almost noise free. The resulting gain makes it possible to detect single photons. In addition, the PMT's bandwidth of several gigahertz facilitates detection of signals that change rapidly or last for only a brief time.
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