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arXiv:2310.04281

The avalanche delay effect in sine-gated single-photon detector based on InGaAs/InP SPADs

Alexandr A. Filyaev, Anton Losev, Vladimir Zavodilenko, Pavlov, Igor

Published Oct 6, 2023• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

A sine-gated single-photon detector (SPD) intended for use in a quantum key distribution (QKD) system is considered in this paper. An "avalanche delay" effect in the sine-gated SPD is revealed. This effect consists in the appearance of an avalanche triggered at the next gate after the photon arrival gate. It has been determined experimentally that the nature of this effect is not related to the known effects of afterpulsing or charge persistence. This effect negatively affects the overall error rate in the QKD system. The influence of the main detector control parameters, such as temperature, gate amplitude and comparator's threshold voltage, on the avalanche delay effect was experimentally established.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2310.04281

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A sine-gated single-photon detector (SPD) intended for use in a quantum key distribution (QKD) system is considered in this paper. An "avalanche delay" effect in the sine-gated SPD is revealed. This effect consists in the appearance of an avalanche triggered at the next gate after the photon arrival gate. It has been determined experimentally that the nature of this effect is not related to the known effects of afterpulsing or charge persistence. This effect negatively affects the overall error rate in the QKD system. The influence of the main detector control parameters, such as temperature, gate amplitude and comparator's threshold voltage, on the avalanche delay effect was experimentally established.
In this paper, we investigateda self-developed sine wave gated single-photon detector (SPD) for 1550 nm wavelength primary for quantum key distribution (QKD) usage. We studied the influence of DC bias voltage and AC gate amplitude on the SPD’s functional parameters and presented a simple and effective algorithm for its optimization. Such optimization showed practical benefits while SPD was set up on the QKD device. We admitted that the dark count rate decreases with an increase in gating voltage with fixed photon detection efficiency. We observed the charge persistence effect in sine-gated SPDs, which previously had been observed only at square-pulses gated SPDs, and showed that this effect is limiting for infinity increasing gate amplitude.
InGaAs/InP single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) working in the regime of GHz clock rates are crucial components for the high-speed quantum key distribution (QKD). We have developed for the first time a compact, stable, and user-friendly tabletop InGaAs/InP single-photon detector system operating at a 1.25 GHz gate rate that fully integrates functions for controlling and optimizing SPAD performance. We characterize the key parameters of the detector system and test the long-term stability of the system for continuous operation of 75 h. The detector system can substantially enhance QKD performance and our present work paves the way for practical high-speed QKD applications.
Semiconductor single-photon avalanche detectors (SPADs) have played an important role in practical quantum communication technology due to their advantages of small size, low cost and easy operation. Among them, InGaAs/InP SPADs have been widely used in fiber-optic quantum key distribution systems due to their response wavelength range in a near-infrared optical communication band. In order to avoid the influence of dark count and afterpulsing on single photon detection, the gated quenching technologies are widely applied to the InGaAs/InP SPADs. Typically, the duration of gate pulse is set to be as short as a few nanoseconds or even less. As the detection of the arrival of single photons depends on the coincidence between the arrival time of gate pulse and the arrival time of photon, the gate pulse duration of the InGaAs/InP SPADs inevitably affects the effective detection of the single photons. Without the influence of dispersion, the temporal width of the transmitted photons is usually on the order of picoseconds or even less, which is much shorter than the gate width of the InGaAs/InP SPAD. Therefore, the gate width normally has no influence on the temporal measurement of the detected photons. However, in quantum systems involving large dispersion, such as the long-distance fiber-optic quantum communication system, the temporal width of the transmitted photons is significantly broadened by the experienced dispersion so that it may approach to or even exceed the gate width of the single-photon detector. As a result, the effect of the gate width on the recording of the arrival time of the dispersed photons should be taken into account. In this paper, the influence of the gate width coupled to the InGaAs/InP single photon detectors on the measurement of the two-photon coincidence time width is studied both theoretically and experimentally. The theoretical analysis and experimental results are in good agreement with each other, showing that the finally measured coincidence time width of the two-photon state after dispersion is not more than half of the effective gate pulses width. The maximum observable coincidence time width based on the gated single photon detector is fundamentally limited by the gate width, which restricts its applications in quantum information processing based on the two-photon temporal correlation measurement.
Subject of study. A noise parameter, such as an afterpulse effect, that occurs in indium-gallium arsenide/indium phosphide single-photon avalanche diodes when operated as part of a single-photon detector in quantum key distribution systems was investigated. The aim of this study was the analysis of indium-gallium arsenide/indium phosphide single-photon avalanche diode afterpulse effect estimation approaches for real-world quantum key distribution systems and the development of a measurement technique and model for estimating the afterpulse effect in indium-gallium arsenide/indium phosphide single-photon avalanche diodes. Method. For the experimental measurement of the afterpulse probability in indium-gallium arsenide/indium phosphide single-photon avalanche diodes, a special stand was used. All components of this stand are controlled by LabVIEW software. The developed model of afterpulse probability is based on the non-Markovian character of this effect. Main results. A measurement technique and probabilistic model were developed to estimate the afterpulse based on the recursive nature of this effect in indium-gallium arsenide/indium phosphide single-photon avalanche diodes. This makes it possible to estimate the true value of the afterpulse probability by reaction with a single triggering of a single-photon detector composed of indium-gallium arsenide/indium phosphide single-photon avalanche diodes. Analysis of approaches to estimating the afterpulse used in real-world quantum key distribution systems was performed. The advantages of the developed approach over the standard methods that do not take into account the non-Markov nature of the effect under consideration are demonstrated. Practical significance. The proposed approach was developed in the form of two models (simple and complex), which allows a compromise between the accuracy of calculations and their complexity for the application of such devices in quantum key distribution systems.
GHz single-photon detector (SPD) is a crucial part in the practical high speed quantum key distribution (QKD) system. However, any imperfections in a practical QKD system may be exploited by an eavesdropper (Eve) to collect information about the key without being discovered. The sine wave gating SPD (SG-SPD) based on InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiode, one kind of practical high speed SPD, may also contain loopholes. In this paper, we study the principle and characteristic of the SG-SPD and find out the filtering loophole of the SG-SPD for the first time. What is more, the proof-of-principle experiment shows that Eve could blind and control Bob’s SG-SPD by exploiting this loophole. We believe that giving enough attention to this loophole can improve the practical security of the existing QKD system.
Abstract Quantum key distribution (QKD) achieves information-theoretic security based on quantum mechanics principles, where single-photon detectors (SPDs) serve as critical components. This study focuses on the sinusoidal gated SPDs widely used in high-speed QKD systems. We investigate the mechanisms underlying the rising-edge jitter in detection signals, identifying contributions from factors such as the temporal width of injected optical pulses, avalanche generation processes, avalanche signal extraction, and pulse discrimination. To address the issue of excessive jitter-induced bit errors, we propose a retiming scheme that utilizes coincidence signals synchronized with the sinusoidal gating signal. This approach effectively suppresses detection signal jitter and reduces the after-pulse probability of the detector. Experimental validation using a high-precision time-to-digital converter (TDC) demonstrates a significant reduction in the rising-edge jitter distribution after applying the suppression scheme. The proposed method features clear principles and straightforward engineering implementation, avoiding direct interference with the detector’s operational processes. The designed high-speed sinusoidal gated InGaAs/InP SPD operates at 1.25 GHz, achieving a remarkable reduction in after-pulse probability from 10.7% (without jitter suppression) to 0.72%, thereby enhancing the overall performance of QKD systems.