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Silicon photomultipliers use semiconductor technology to detect single photons at room temperature. A semiconductor is a material with an electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. The electrical conductivity of a substance measures how much electric current flows when a given electrical potential is placed across it. A perfect insulator has an electrical conductivity of 0, indicating that no current flows through it even when an electrical difference is present. A semiconductor normally acts like an insulator up to certain potential difference, called the breakdown voltage, above which it becomes conducting. The vast majority of electrical devices today make use of semiconductors. One very common electrical component of semiconductor electroics is the diode. A diode is like a valve for electric current, that conducts current in one direction, but not the other. (((((At very small electrical potentials in the forward direction, no current flows until it reaches a potential of <math>V{Cut}</math>, at which time it begins to act like a conductor.
Silicon photomultipliers use semiconductor technology to detect single photons at room temperature. A semiconductor is a material with an electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. The electrical conductivity of a substance measures how much electric current flows when a given electrical potential is placed across it. A perfect insulator has an electrical conductivity of 0, indicating that no current flows through it even when an electrical difference is present. A semiconductor normally acts like an insulator up to certain potential difference, called the breakdown voltage, above which it becomes conducting. The vast majority of electrical devices today make use of semiconductors. One very common electrical component of semiconductor electroics is the diode. A diode is like a valve for electric current, that conducts current in one direction, but not the other. (((((At very small electrical potentials in the forward direction, no current flows until it reaches a potential of <math>V{Cut}</math>, at which time it begins to act like a conductor.
An I-V Curve
Include a Plot)))))
Include a Plot)))))