Another project that I believed impractical for this course has proved possible: using a photomultiplier.
The RCA 931-A nine-stage photomultiplier was an inexpensive but good detector of feeble light, costing
about $11 in the 50's. Photomultipliers are still available, but are quite expensive because they must be
very good for use in scintillation detectors or astronomy. Such tubes are well beyond our budget, and
require elaborate mountings. When the 931-A came down in price recently to little more than $20, it
suddenly became practical to consider experimenting with one. It's an ideal photomultipler for the
experimenter.
It is necessary to say that if you are not scared by the prospect of a 1000 V supply with big capacitors,
you should not attempt this project. The supply is positively lethal unless you avoid the slightest
possibility of contact with it. This means that everything should be inside a metal box, and the wiring
should be neat. I used a 6-1/4 x 7-1/4 x 2-3/4 two-piece box with an aluminum bottom and a black crackle
finish steel top. The box should be grounded to one side of the secondary of the transformer, not to AC
ground. There will be no particular problem from having it float, and if you connect it to anything, it will
be happy with the local ground. Hands must be kept away when tests are being made with the box open,
one hand definitely in the pocket. Of course, the resistor string on the photomultipler socket that serves as
a bleeder is absolutely necessary for safety.
The 931-A should not be subjected to more than 1250 V overall, or 250 V between the ninth dynode and
the collector, and the current should not exceed 1 mA. The recommended supply is 1000 V, divided
equally between collector, dynodes and cathode. Our supply gives a little over 1000 V when energized
with 120 V, so it is ideal. While testing, I bring it up with a Variac. No signs of distress have yet been
noticed. Your DMM is probably good up to 1000 V, so you can measure the voltage easily. I keep my
hands about a foot away and touch nothing when power is applied. Once you put the lid on, there is no
danger. With these voltages, the gain is a remarkable 24 mA/ W, or 24 A/lm at the wavelength of
maximum sensitivity, 400 nm. The photocathode has an S4 response, which extends from 300 nm to 700
nm, peaking at 400 nm. The photocathode is 5/16" wide by 15/16" high, centered 1-15/16" above the
seating plane. It faces the key of the socket pin, and is located behind the collector grid, deep in the tube.
The socket is on the top of the power supply box. I made a shield out of a length of paper towel roll with a
cardboard top, cut out and taped down all around. It was sprayed matte black inside and out, and a small
square hole was cut with an X-acto knife at the height of the middle of the cathode.
There are 9 dynodes at which secondary electron emission occurs. Between 4 and 5 secondary electrons
appear for each electron striking a dynode, for an overall gain of 800,000 ( = 4.539). The dark current
(after the tube is allowed to quiet down) is equivalent to an input of 2.5 x 10-9 lumens (60 nA), and the
noise is equivalent to 9.5 x 10-13 lumens. 1 mA photocurrent corresponds to an input of 42 lm, or an
illumination of 21 millifoot-candles! Obviously, we do not expose the 931-A to bright lights.
The 931-A uses an 11-pin small-shell submagnal base, which looks like an octal base but has more pins.
A similar base is used for some 3PDT relays, so a relay socket can be used. This is a different, smaller 11-
pin base than that used by the 2BP1 cathode-ray tube, and is equally difficult to find. The resistive voltage
divider of 100k resistors is built up on the socket. I did not use the 0.1 F capacitors shown in the circuit
diagram, since they are not needed for DC tests, and the tube will work well without them anyway. There
are only 3 connections from the multiplier to the power supply: the cathode (pin 11), collector (pin 10),
and dynode 9 (pin 9). The hole for the socket was cut with a Greenlee chassis punch (it's the same
diameter as for an octal socket) which made the job easy. Otherwise, cutting the hole in steel is a very
annoying job, and I'd advise an all-aluminum box if you don't have a chassis punch.
Construction and testing proved to be a one-day job. Connect a DMM across the 100k output resistor to
measure the DC photocurrent (I used binding posts for Vo and ground). Note that you are close to ground
here: all the high voltage is at the other end of the tube. The dark current was practically zero, but I easily
got 7 or 8 volts output with a flashlight pointed in the general direction, when the voltage across the
photomultiplier was 600 or 700 V. You will find that the tube is extremely sensitive to light, unlike the
usual phototube or phototransistor. Don't turn the power on when the tube is unshielded! It probably won't
ruin the tube, since the current will be limited, but won't do it any good.