High-linearity analog-to-digital acquisition board for photon-timing applications

Nowadays a wide range of scientific applications require the detection of very weak and fast luminescence signals in the time domain. Single molecule spectroscopy, diffuse optical tomography, time-resolved emission spectra are only a few examples among them. Advanced time-correlated single photon counting, that relies on multidetector and multidimensional acquisition, reveals itself as a powerful technique to gather deeper insight into various photochemical and biological processes. In this paper we present a high-speed, high-linearity A/D acquisition board that is designed as a building block for a compact, low-cost, multidetector acquisition system for photon-timing experiments. The prototype has been experimentally tested and the results fully comply the goal design specifications. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.