WIDE-AREA SINGLE-PHOTON DETECTOR WITH TIME-GATING CAPABILITY

A photodetector is disclosed comprising an array of microcells and an output module configured to collect from each microcell an output signal indicative of a photon detection and to combine the collected output signals in at least one output line. Each microcell comprises a first device and a second device, wherein at least one of devices is a photosensitive device capable of detecting the photon, a time-gating module connected to said at least one photosensitive device and configured to provide a gate signal to the at least one photosensitive device to activate it and a readout module configured to receive, upon arrival of the photon on the at least one activated photosensitive device, a corresponding signal from the at least one activated photosensitive device and, on the basis of the received signal, to provide the output signal to the output module