!%Zecotek Photonics Inc.%! has achieved commercial production status with its most advanced solid-state micropixel avalanche photodiode (MAPD) photodetectors, the MAPD-3N, it announced. The MAPDs are manufactured under a contract with the Malaysian Institute of Microelectronic Systems and Omega Semiconductor Sdn Bhd (MIMOS), an applied research center. Fine-tuning of preproduction runs over the past six months has stabilized the manufacturing process, and the MAPD-3N is now ready to manufacture. The proprietary MAPD-3N is a design upgrade of the previously announced MAPD, which offers significant performance advantages over photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). The solid-state MAPD photodetector features photon detection efficiency, energy and timing resolutions, and working gain in comparison to existing PMTs. Photon detection efficiency and working gain have been improved by a factor of two, and dark count rates have been reduced by almost a factor of two. This makes the universal adoption of the technology a reality for PET medical scanners and gamma camera applications, particularly when the MAPD-3Ns are combined with Zecotek’s patented LFS scintillation materials. Zecotek Photonics develops crystals, photodetectors, medical lasers, optical imaging and 3-D display technologies for commercial applications in the medical diagnostics and high-tech industry. For more information, visit: www.zecotek.com