Single-photon detection beyond 1 μm: performance of commercially available InGaAs/InP detectors

Abstract

Commercially available InGaAs/lnP avalanche photodiodes, designed for optical receivers and range finders, can be operated biased above the breakdown voltage, achieving single-photon sensitivity. We describe in detail how to select the device for photon-counting applications among commercial samples. Because of the high dark-counting rate the detector must be cooled to below 100 K and operated in a gated mode. We achieved a noise equivalent power of 3 × 10(-16) W/Hz(1/2) to a 1.55-µm wavelength and a time resolution well below 1 ns with a best value of 200-ps FWHM. Finally we compare these figures with the performance of state-of-the-art detectors in the near IR, and we highlight the potentials of properly designed InGaAs/lnP avalanche photodiodes in single-photon detection.

Design and Performance of an InGaAs–InP Single-Photon Avalanche Diode Detector

“…3) The mask design incorporates different diffused area curvatures in order to accommodate the smaller volume structures needed for low DCRs whilst avoiding edge breakdown effects, such as the 10-µm diameter devices (see later). The specific choice of the zinc diffused planar geometry was based on previous studies done by our research groups, which highlighted consistently lower DCRs in devices fabricated using this approach [6], [7], [14]. The device material was grown epitaxially by metal organic chemical vapor deposition.…”

“…More recently they have been employed in quantum key distribution [4] and noninvasive testing of VLSI circuits [5]. Commercially available InGaAs-InP avalanche photodiodes (APDs) designed for use in linear multiplication mode have been tested in Geiger mode [6], [7] in order to extend the spectral range of efficient single-photon detection to wavelengths greater than that afforded by the currently available Si-based single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) detectors (i.e., wavelengths greater than 1 m). These InGaAs-InP detectors have exhibited good single-photon detection efficiency (SPDE) (SPDE > 10%) and subnanosecond timing jitter, however they have limited counting rates due to the severe deleterious effects of the afterpulsing phenomenon.…”

Photonic Technologies for Quantum Information Processing

“…In the infrared, 1-1.6 µm, the best results to date have come from APDs having InGaAs as the absorption region that is separate from a multiplication layer of InP (51) ; see Fig. 4.…”

Readout schemes for low noise single-photon avalanche diodes fabricated in conventional HV-CMOS technologies

“…The advantages of the gated operation with commercially available germanium [18] and InGaAs/InP [19] APDs for the detection of 1-1.3 mm wavelengths have already been discussed in the literature. In these cases, short gate pulses are achieved with voltage generators.…”