Patent ID: 8072595

Claim:
A system for time-correlated photon counting comprising: a photon detector configured to receive light from a light source to be measured and producing a photon detector electrical output upon reception of a photon; a delay generator receiving a trigger signal and producing a delayed electrical output, wherein the delayed electrical output is based on a programmable delay; an event counter receiving the delayed electrical output and producing an event output for each received delayed electrical output; a gate pulse generator receiving the delayed electrical output and providing a gate pulse to the photon detector for turning on the photon detector for reception of photons during the duration of the gate pulse; a comparator receiving the photon detector electrical output and producing a detected photon output if the electrical output exceeds a threshold; a photon counter receiving the detected photon output and producing a hit output for each received detected photon output; and a processor receiving each event output and each hit output and producing a time history of hit outputs based on time occurrences of each event output.