We report benchmark tests of a new single-photon counting detector based on a GaAsP photocathode and an electron-bombarded avalanche photodiode developed by Hamamatsu Photonics. We compare its performance with those of standard Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes. We show its advantages for FCS due to the absence of after-pulsing and for fluorescence lifetime measurements due to its excellent tim...

By modeling the statistical evolution of an avalanche created by 20 keV protons impacting the input surface of a z-stack microchannel plate ~MCP! detector, the mean secondary electron yield gC of avalanche electrons propagating through a MCP channel is measured to equal 1.37 for 760 V per MCP in the z stack. This value agrees with other studies that used MCP gain measurements to infer gC . The ...

Strong coupling of electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom entails a low-bias suppression of the current through single-molecule devices, termed the Franck-Condon blockade. In the limit of slow vibrational relaxation, transport in the Franck-Condon-blockade regime proceeds via avalanches of large numbers of electrons, which are interrupted by long waiting times without electron transfer. ...