The Ideal Photon Detector and Noise Limitations on Optical Signal Measurement
In the previous chapters we have treated the theory and behavior of the two significant types of optical or infrared source, first, the blackbody or a diffuse reflector, and second the laser. We now consider the optimum means of detection for the radiation from the sources, realizing that our detector, with rare exceptions will be situated at the focus of an optical receiver which in its simplest form is a lens. Historically, the first radiation sensors were thermal detectors, that is, devices whose temperature was a function of the incident optical power, such temperature then being electrically sensed to determine the power level. Actually, Herschel, in ...
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