Patent ID: 11921245
Assignee: HAMAMATSU PHOTONICS K.K.
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 0:
1. A device for photon counting comprising:
a CMOS image sensor including a plurality of pixels, wherein each pixel of the plurality of pixels includes a photoelectric conversion element configured to convert input light to charge, and an amplifier configured to amplify the charge converted by the photoelectric conversion element and convert the charge to a voltage;
a plurality of A/D converters, each A/D converter being configured to convert the voltage output from a corresponding one of the amplifiers to a digital value; and
a computer configured to convert the digital value output from the A/D converter to a number of photons by referring to reference data, for each of the plurality of pixels,
wherein a readout noise of the amplifier is equal to or less than 0.4 e-rms, and wherein the reference data is threshold value data for distinguishing between adjacent numbers of photons.