Patent ID: 8716647

Claim:
An analog silicon photomultiplier system configured to detect low-energy photon emissions, the system comprising: at least one analog pixel comprising a plurality of avalanche photodiodes (APDs) and a capacitor, the APDs configured to fire upon detection of a photon; a signal generator configured to generate and propagate a sinusoidal signal concurrently along a first transmission line and a second transmission line, wherein the capacitor is configured to be loaded on the first transmission line when an APD of the plurality of APDs in the at least one analog pixel corresponding to the capacitor detects a photon; a phase detector coupled with the first transmission line and the second transmission line, the phase detector configured to determine a phase difference between the first transmission line and the second transmission line and calculate a number of APDs that have fired from the phase difference; and a compensation network coupled with the second transmission line and the phase detector, the compensation network comprising a plurality of compensation capacitors, wherein the compensation capacitors are configured to be loaded on the second transmission line in proportion to the number of APDs that have fired.