I was curious how photons could actually be detected and counted, so I looked it up and learned that scientists use tools like photomultiplier tubes or silicon photodiodes to detect photons. These devices work by absorbing the photons and converting them into electrical signals. The strength of these signals can then be measured to determine the number of photons that were detected.
Boomaa23
@colinsteidtmann I'd be interested to know how they make these silicon photodiodes! I know you can buy a photodiode and use it to roughly measure a light input, but the accuracy and precision of that are both quite low. So you'd have to specially design an extra precise extra accurate sensor with a tightly controlled environment to make that happen. I'm not sure how to do that but it'd be really cool to find out.
I was curious how photons could actually be detected and counted, so I looked it up and learned that scientists use tools like photomultiplier tubes or silicon photodiodes to detect photons. These devices work by absorbing the photons and converting them into electrical signals. The strength of these signals can then be measured to determine the number of photons that were detected.
@colinsteidtmann I'd be interested to know how they make these silicon photodiodes! I know you can buy a photodiode and use it to roughly measure a light input, but the accuracy and precision of that are both quite low. So you'd have to specially design an extra precise extra accurate sensor with a tightly controlled environment to make that happen. I'm not sure how to do that but it'd be really cool to find out.