The Novel ABALONE Mass-Production Photosensor Technology
by
Daniel Ferenc(UC Davis)
→
US/Pacific
Bldg. 50 Auditorium
Bldg. 50 Auditorium
Description
Just the day before my seminar, the U.S. Patent will be issued (U.S. Patent No. 9,064,678) for the presented ABALONE photosensor invention, while patent applications for a large-area radiation detector and a new kind of a PET scanner, based on this technology, have been filed recently. This project has a > 20 years old history. During the last four years, we have been producing fully functional ABALONE Photosensor prototypes, while during the last 25 months one prototype has been continuously stress-tested and studied, demonstrating its unique performance and stability. This manifestly modern, fast and inexpensive technology was designed to be equivalent to the very common production of compact audio discs (CDs). The extremely simple, yet highly non-trivial design of the ABALONE Photosensor was derived precisely from the strict requirements imposed by our ascetic technology--an ABALONE Photosensor comprises only three initial glass components that form the vacuum part; no metals, no ceramics, no semiconductors; no bulk metal electrodes and electric feedthroughs! Plus up to a 10,000 times smaller Geiger-mode Avalanche Photodiode, glued to ABALONE outside, i.e., in the atmosphere. So, how is that possible? To be explained in my talk, but let me only mention that the key for this technology has been a new material that we synthesized in 2004. Our technology presents a fundamental game-change for all applications of large-area photosensors (medical imaging, nuclear security, astro-particle physics), after the dominance of the 80-year-old photomultiplier (PMT) manufacture, and after a long period of fundamentally flawed attempts to design hybrid photodiodes (HPD) for mass production. I will also briefly discuss some new inventions (large-area radiation detectors and a new kind of a PET scanner), the PhotonLab startup company, and the opportunities for collaboration.