Electronic bandwidth effects on the DITP photon counting direct-detection laser radar receiver

Douglas G. Youmans; George A. Hart

doi:10.1117/12.397803

5 September 2000 Electronic bandwidth effects on the DITP photon counting direct-detection laser radar receiver

Douglas G. Youmans, George A. Hart

Proceedings Volume 4035, Laser Radar Technology and Applications V; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.397803
Event: AeroSense 2000, 2000, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

The number of photons returning from a target in a given time interval is a negative-binomially distributed random variable. The resulting detected photon 'electron pulses' produced by a photomultiplier tube (PMT) photon-counting detector are also negative-binomially distributed per time bin with a reduced mean. These time distributed electron pulses are amplified and filtered by the receiver electronics, prior to digitization and signal processing. The voltage output pulse per individual photo-electron event is known as the 'impulse-response- function' of the detector and amplifier. The random summation of these voltage impulse-responses, as created by the negative-binomial photon arrival times and photo-electron creation, is the classical electronic 'shot-noise' random process. We derive the voltage probability density function of this 'negative-binomial driven shot-noise' random process following the stochastic process literature. We also show a technique to include PMT variations in gain, known as the 'pulse height distribution,' and also to incorporate Gaussian baseline-noise voltage. Agreement with several experiments is shown to be excellent.

Citation Download Citation

Douglas G. Youmans and George A. Hart "Electronic bandwidth effects on the DITP photon counting direct-detection laser radar receiver", Proc. SPIE 4035, Laser Radar Technology and Applications V, (5 September 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.397803

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