Hamamatsu, Photek License Arradiance's Nanofilm Technology for Photodetectors

Arradiance Inc. has licensed its nanofilm microchannel plate (MCP) imager and detector technology to Photek Ltd. of the UK and Hamamatsu Photonics KK of Japan. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.

The technology, covered by 11 issued U.S. patents and several pending U.S. and international patents, is used in the production of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) at several high-energy physics installations worldwide. Photomultiplier tubes are being put to use as high-speed, high-sensitivity optical sensors in a range of applications from medical equipment to industrial fields, Arradiance said.

"Phototubes made using Arradiance's nanofilm technology demonstrate an order of magnitude improvement in MCP-PMT lifetime, enabling the unsurpassed timing resolution of these devices to be used in applications which have not been open to traditional MCP-based imagers and detectors," said Photek Managing Director Gareth Jones.

"Arradiance has invested millions of dollars and years of research in the development of this nanofilm technology. We are witnessing a broad acceptance across the industry as evidenced by partners such as Photek, Argonne National Laboratory [and the] University of Chicago's Large-Area Picosecond Photo-Detectors (LAPPD) project," said Arradiance CEO Ken Stenton.

Arradiance's nanofilms are made using proprietary recipes and the benchtop GEMStar atomic layer deposition (ALD) system. GEMStar employs a hot-wall reactor and precursor delivery system to deposit highly uniform and repeatable films on high-aspect-ratio, high-surface-area substrates.

Hamamatsu manufactures photosensitive devices, light sources, imaging devices, image processing systems and optical measuring systems.

Photek manufactures vacuum-based tubes and camera systems for high-speed imaging and photon detection. Its products include camera systems, image intensifiers, streak tubes, PMTs and a range of associated electronics.