Investigating the temperature dependence of photomultiplier quantum efficiency when operating in the visible spectrum

The quantum efficiency of a Burle 8850 photomultiplier tube with a potassium-caesium-antimony (bialkali) photocathode was determined by attenuating a 1 mW HeNe laser emitting at 633 nm and measuring the signal frequency when the laser was incident on the photomultiplier. A temperature range of 5 $^{\circ}$C $-$ 20 $^{\circ}$C was investigated and it was found that the quantum efficiency decreases with temperature, with the signal frequency decreasing at a faster rate than the dark current frequency. Therefore, it was concluded that it would not be beneficial to cool photomultiplier tubes operating in the visible spectrum for use in collinear laser spectroscopy due to a decreasing signal-to-noise ratio. The signal pulse height distribution was also analysed and found to be independent of temperature within the range investigated.