The present technology relates to a solid-state imaging apparatus and a driving method that can perform imaging at lower power consumption. By providing the solid-state imaging apparatus including a pixel array section on which a plurality of SPAD pixels is two-dimensionally arranged, in which in a case where illuminance becomes first illuminance higher than reference illuminance, a part of the SPAD pixels of the plurality of pixels arranged on the pixel array section is thinned, it is possible to image at lower power consumption. The present technology can be applied to an image sensor, for example.

A PET scanner includes a ring of detector modules encircling an imaging region. Each of the detector modules includes one or more sensor avalanche photodiodes (APDs) that are biased in a breakdown region in a Geiger mode. The sensor APDs output pulses in response to light from a scintillator corresponding to incident photons. A reference APD also biased in a breakdown region in a Geiger mode is optically shielded from light and outputs a voltage that is measured by an analog to digital converter. Based on the measurement, a bias control feedback loop directs a variable voltage generator to adjust a bias voltage applied to the APDs such that a difference between a voltage of a breakdown pulse and a preselected logic voltage level is minimized.

An image sensor comprising one or more processors and/or circuitry which functions as: a plurality of pixels each of which detects photons incident during a predetermined exposure period, counts a number of the photons, and outputs a first count value; a calculator that calculates a second count value per unit time based on the exposure period and the first count value; and a corrector that acquires a correction coefficient based on the second count value and corrects a detection error of the first count value using the correction coefficient, wherein the corrector acquires a larger value as the correction coefficient in a case where the second count value is a first value than in a case where the second count value is a second value which is smaller than the first value.

A method and apparatus are provided for nonlinear energy correction of a gamma-ray detector using a calibration spectrum acquired from the background radiation of lutetium isotope 176 (Lu-176) present in scintillators in the gamma-ray detector. Further, by periodically acquiring Lu-176 spectra using the background radiation from the scintillators, the nonlinear energy correction can be monitored to detect when changes in the gamma-ray detector cause the detector to go out of calibration, and then use a newly acquired Lu-176 spectrum to update the calibration of the nonlinear energy correction as needed. The detector calibration is performed by comparing a reference histogram to a calibration histogram generated using the nonlinear energy correction, and adjusting the parameters of the nonlinear energy correction until the two histograms match. Alternatively, the detector calibration is performed by comparing reference and calibration values for specific spectral features, rather than for the whole Lu-176 spectrum.

An in-core detector configured to measure a power distribution in a nuclear reactor is disclosed herein. The in-core detector includes a housing configured to be placed within a predetermined location of the nuclear reactor and a plurality of a gamma detectors. Each gamma detector of the plurality of gamma detectors includes a Schottky diode including an active semiconductor region and a Schottky contact, an Ohmic contact, a photoelectron source material configured to transfer electrons to the active region upon contact with gamma radiation, and a first and second lead. The plurality of gamma detectors are positioned within the housing such that each gamma detector of the plurality of gamma detectors is radially offset relative to an adjacent gamma detector of the plurality of gamma detectors, such that the first and second leads of each gamma detector are offset relative to the first and second leads of the adjacent gamma detector.

In an embodiment, a method includes: providing a gray-coded time reference to a time-to-digital converter (TDC); receiving an event from an event signal; latching the gray-coded time reference into a memory upon reception of the event signal; and updating a time-of-flight (ToF) histogram based on the latched gray-coded time reference.

The present disclosure relates to devices, systems, and methods relating to configurable silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) devices. An example device includes a substrate and a plurality of single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) coupled to the substrate. The device also includes a plurality of outputs coupled to the substrate and a plurality of electrical components coupled to the substrate. The plurality of electrical components are configured to selectively connect the plurality of SPADs to the plurality of outputs by selecting which output of the plurality of outputs is connected to each SPAD of the plurality of SPADs and to thereby define a plurality of SiPMs in the device such that each SiPM of the plurality of SiPMs comprises a respective set of one or more SPADs connected to a respective output of the plurality of outputs.

This photodetector (100) includes a first discriminator (4) configured to discriminate a first signal output from a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements (1), a second discriminator (5) configured to discriminate a second signal based on signals output from the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, and a trigger signal generator (7) configured to generate a trigger signal, the trigger signal indicating that light to be detected is incident based on discrimination results of the first discriminator and the second discriminator.

Embodiments are directed toward a scanning LIDAR system that measures a distance to a target that reflects light from a transmitter to a receiver. A light transmitter is arranged to scan pulses of light that reflect off a remote surface (target) and illuminate fractions of the Field of View (FoV) of a receiver, such as a camera. These fractions of the FoV are smaller than a resolution provided by an array of pixels used to detect Time of Flight (ToF) reflections of the scanned pulses of light from a remote surface. The exemplary scanning LIDAR system may resolve an image of the remote surface at substantially higher resolution than the pixel resolution provided by its receiver.

A photoelectric converter includes a silicon photomultiplier array and a light guide coupled to the silicon photomultiplier array. The silicon photomultiplier array is generated by splicing i×j silicon photomultipliers on a horizontal plane, where both i and j are integers greater than or equal to 2. A detector includes a scintillation crystal, an electronic system, a light guide and a silicon photomultiplier. A scanning device includes a detection apparatus and a rack, the detection apparatus includes a detector, and the detector includes the photoelectric converter.