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arXiv:1708.08650 · Optics Express

Breakdown flash at telecom wavelengths in InGaAs avalanche photodiodes

Yicheng Shi, Janet Zheng Jie Lim, Hou Shun Poh, Peng Kian Tan, Peiyu Amelia Tan, Alexander Ling, Christian Kurtsiefer

Published Nov 20, 2017• 19 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Quantum key distribution (QKD) at telecom wavelengths (1260 - 1625 nm) has the potential for fast deployment due to existing optical fibre infrastructure and mature telecom technologies. At these wavelengths, Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs) avalanche photodiode (APD) based detectors are the preferred choice for photon detection. Similar to their Silicon counterparts used at shorter wavelengths, they exhibit fluorescence from recombination of electron-hole pairs generated in the avalanche breakdown process. This fluorescence may open side channels for attacks on QKD systems. Here, we characterize the breakdown fluorescence from two commercial InGaAs single photon counting modules, and find a spectral distribution between 1000 nm and 1600 nm. We also show that by spectral filtering, this side channel can be efficiently suppressed.

DOI
10.1364/oe.25.030388

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Quantum key distribution (QKD) at telecom wavelengths (1260 - 1625 nm) has the potential for fast deployment due to existing optical fibre infrastructure and mature telecom technologies. At these wavelengths, Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs) avalanche photodiode (APD) based detectors are the preferred choice for photon detection. Similar to their Silicon counterparts used at shorter wavelengths, they exhibit fluorescence from recombination of electron-hole pairs generated in the avalanche breakdown process. This fluorescence may open side channels for attacks on QKD systems. Here, we characterize the breakdown fluorescence from two commercial InGaAs single photon counting modules, and find a spectral distribution between 1000 nm and 1600 nm. We also show that by spectral filtering, this side channel can be efficiently suppressed.
In our experiment, two InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiodes (APD) were used in the quantum key distribution (QKD) system for single-photon detection at telecom communication wavelength (1310/1550 nm). By using properly designed passive-quenching circuit, the photo-detection efficiency of the APD could reach 10% at 1550 nm. In order to decrease the dark count rate efficiently, we designed a coincident counting circuits for single-photon detection. Before the APD signals were sent to the signal processing circuit, the avalanche signals were amplified and shaped into the TTL pulses. In order to obtain an accurate and efficient data acquisition and to transfer synchronically several signals such as the TTL signals and pulses from Random generators, we designed a signal processing circuit with the parallel port whose speed limitation is about 100Kb/s. In our experiments of single-photon interference and quantum cryptography, the electronic designs presented us satisfactory performance and results. To achieve much higher speed for the data acquisition, we also employed the Universal Serial Bus System (USB2.0) to interface our single-photon avalanche detectors and random generators used in our QKD system, which was believed to improve the performance of QKD such as the key distribution speed.
Silicon avalanche photodiodes are the most sensitive photodetectors in the visible to near-infrared region for a wavelength <1000 nm. However, when they are used for single photon detection in a Geiger mode, they are known to emit light on the controlled breakdown used to detect a photoelectron. This fluorescence light might have serious impacts on experimental applications like quantum cryptography or single-particle spectroscopy. We characterized the fluorescence behaviour of silicon avalanche photodiodes in the experimentally simple passive quenching configuration and discuss implications for their use in quantum cryptography systems.
The application of quantum key distribution (QKD) has raised particular demands for single-photon detectors. One of the most promising candidates at the low-loss optical fibre communications windows is the planar geometry InGaAs/InP single-photon avalanche diode. These detectors have been modelled, fabricated and characterised at 1.55 µm wavelength. Their performance in terms of single-photon detection efficiency, dark count rate, timing jitter and afterpulsing behaviour are reported and compared with the best commercially available, linear multiplication avalanche photodiodes operated in Geiger-mode. Their use in the application of QKD is discussed.
We investigate the feasibility of single and entangled photon-based quantum key distribution protocols at telecommunication wavelengths with two types of single photon detectors, namely InGaAs/InP and Silicon-APD, under various realistic conditions. The purpose of the current optical fiber-based simulation is to analyze the various performance parameters. In addition to these, we analyze the effect of possible attacks on the one and two weak decoy state protocols under investigation with the two deployed avalanche photodiodes. The simulation results obtained show that the one and two weak decoy states used in the entangled-based protocol at telecommunication wavelengths with considered attacks and under various industrial parameters outperforms the single photon-based quantum key distribution protocol. In addition, it is also observed that Silicon-APD (the avalanche photodiode) performs better than InGaAs/InP-APD when considering all the conditions.
We provide a direct comparison between the InGaAs avalanche photodiode (APD) and the NbN superconducting single photon detector (SSPD) for applications in fiber-based quantum cryptography. The quantum efficiency and dark count rate were measured for each detector, and used to calculate the quantum bit error rate (QBER) and shared key rate for a QKD link. The results indicate that, despite low quantum efficiency, the speed of the SSPD makes it a superior detector for quantum information applications. Finally, we present results of an initial integration of an SSPD into a receiver node of the DARPA quantum network to perform quantum key distribution. Encoding quantum information on single photons has enabled the realization of a number of unique communication schemes such as the implementation of the BB84 protocol for quantum key distribution 1 and quantum dense coding. 2 Furthermore, the implementation of these schemes using photons at telecommunication wavelengths has permitted their extension to fiber optic networks, 3,4 drastically increasing the practicality of quantum information processing. To date, the state of the art in commercially available single photon detection at telecommunication wavelengths (1550 nm) has been the thermo-electrically cooled InGaAs avalanche photodiode (APD). The cooled InGaAs APD is generally operated at T = -60°C in the reverse-biased Geiger mode. Though these detectors have been successfully implemented in operating QKD links in optical fiber, the InGaAs APD suffers from afterpulsing effects that limit the key exchange rates. New SPD (single photon detector) technologies based on superconducting materials are emerging that hold tremendous promise for drastically increasing the photon counting rate and eliminating dark noise.57 The SSPD consists of a NbN thin film (t ∼ 5 nm) patterned into a narrow (w ∼ 100 nm) microstrip meander that is ∼ 500μm in length. The detector is cooled to T < 4K in a closed cycle refrigeration unit and a bias current I b is supplied to the device just below the superconducting critical current (I c ). When a photon is incident upon the microstrip superconductivity is broken in the region local to photon absorption and a normal state region is formed in the device. The current passing through the device causes a measurable voltage pulse in the detector that can be amplified and shaped to act as an input for traditional logic circuitry. Due to the unique electronic bandstructure in a superconducting material the intrinsic response time of the device is on the order of picoseconds, so that the repetition rate may be increased above 1 GHz 8 without being susceptible to afterpulsing effects that plague the InGaAs APD. 9 To make a direct comparison between the InGaAs APD and the SSPD both were placed in a SPD characterization testbed to measure quantum efficiency and dark count rate at a variety of bias conditions. The QBER for a QKD link is calculated from the measured parameters and then compared to requirements for a provably secure QKD link. Following detector characterization, one of the nodes of the DARPA Quantum Network operated by BBN Technologies 3 utilized an SSPD in the receiver to transmit key material. The demonstration provides an in situ comparison between the InGaAs APD, normally operated in the BBN link, and the SSPD.
Using InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiodes as sensors and coaxial cables as reflection lines to reject spike signals, we have firstly employed the ``timing filtering'' gates to pick out avalanche signals and have realized the single photon detection at 1550 nm in the temperature range of thermoelectric cooling. A ratio of the dark count rate to the detection efficiency was obtained to be 9 × 10 −5 at 223 K. When the detector is applied to a practical quantum key distribution system, the transmission distance can reach 89.5 km and the repetition rate can reach 0.33 MHz.