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IEEE Photonics Technology Letters

Remotely Gated InGaAs Single-Photon Detector at 1550 nm

Giselle Silva Castro, Joacir Soares de Andrade, Ranara Louise Campos Damasceno, João Batista Rosa Silva, Rubens Viana Ramos

Published Dec 19, 2019• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Single-photon detectors (SPDs) are important devices in the development of quantum technologies, like quantum metrology, quantum computers and quantum communication. The simplest, cheapest and most commonly used SPD employs avalanche photodiode. After the photon absorption, a photocurrent is produced and it must be quenched before to damage the device. In the present work we show a new strategy for quenching the photocurrent of avalanche photodiodes remotely. Our scheme makes easier the synchronism between sender and receiver in a quantum communication setup. Some experimental results are presented.

DOI
10.1109/lpt.2019.2960773

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Single-photon detectors (SPDs) are important devices in the development of quantum technologies, like quantum metrology, quantum computers and quantum communication. The simplest, cheapest and most commonly used SPD employs avalanche photodiode. After the photon absorption, a photocurrent is produced and it must be quenched before to damage the device. In the present work we show a new strategy for quenching the photocurrent of avalanche photodiodes remotely. Our scheme makes easier the synchronism between sender and receiver in a quantum communication setup. Some experimental results are presented.
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Single-photon detectors (SPDs) are the most sensitive instruments for light detection. In the near-infrared range, SPDs based on III–V compound semiconductor avalanche photodiodes have been extensively used during the past two decades for diverse applications due to their advantages in practicality including small size, low cost and easy operation. In the past decade, the rapid developments and increasing demands in quantum information science have served as key drivers to improve the device performance of single-photon avalanche diodes and to invent new avalanche quenching techniques. This Review aims to introduce the technology advances of InGaAs/InP single-photon detector systems in the telecom wavelengths and the relevant quantum communication applications, and particularly to highlight recent emerging techniques such as high-frequency gating at GHz rates and free-running operation using negative-feedback avalanche diodes. Future perspectives of both the devices and quenching techniques are summarized.
Quantum Information Technology is a new multi-disciplinary area which has received a lot of attention due to its promises and its high potential in solving problems still unsolved. In this big area, Quantum Communication is too much developed. In this subarea, Quantum Key Distribution is the most advanced field. It permits two parties, named Alice and Bob, sharing a cryptography key through a secure channel (guaranteed by laws of quantum mechanics). The most of Quantum Key Distribution Systems run over optical fiber links and, in these systems, the most important part is the Single-Photon Detector. Single-Photon Detector is an equipment able to absorb a photon and generate a TTL pulse. Thus, in an ideal Single-Photon Detector, each photon incoming must trigger a TTL pulse at the output. Since the energy level of a single-photon is too much low, an avalanche photodiode is used to perform the photon absorption-carrier generation process, once this photodiode if correctly biased can trigger a detectable avalanche of carriers. After the avalanche has been started, it must be quenched in order to avoid any damage to the photodiode, which is made by an avalanche quenching circuit. The avalanche photodiode is the most important element of a Single-Photon Detector and its characterization requires much attention. In this context, this dissertation deals with theoretical and practical aspects of Single-Photon Detectors for Quantum Communication. It starts from the theory of avalanche photodiodes and quenching circuits (numerical results of quenching circuits are also shown) and follows until the characterization of a home-made Single-Photon Detector and its applications in Metrology of optical devices and in Photon-Number Resolution as well.
In our recent experiment, we have designed a novel single-photon detecting module for quantum key distribution using an InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiode with gate-mode quenched photo-detection. At a repetition rate of 100 kHz and the working temperature of -60°C, we obtained the detection efficiency η higher than 10% and 20% at the dark probability Pd about 1.3×10-5 and 1.6×10-5 per nanosecond, respectively. Also at 100 kHz, we got the best ratio of Pd/η as 1.7×10-3 per pulse (20 ns). And at a lower repetition such as 10 kHz, we obtained Pd/η as 8.9×10-4 per pulse.
We present the design and construction of a high-speed telecom-band (1.5 μm) single-photon counting system based on an InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiode (APD) operating in the gated Geiger mode. The detector can be gated at high speeds (we examine its performance up to 25 MHz) to maximize the counting rate in long-distance, telecom-band, fiber-optic quantum communication applications. Narrow gate pulses (250 ps full width at half maximum) are used to reduce the dark-count and the after-pulse probability. In order to count the avalanche events, we employ a high-speed comparator to sample the unfiltered and unamplified avalanche photocurrent. The APD and all the associated electronics are integrated onto a printed circuit board with a computer interface. In addition, we cool the APD to -27°C to reduce the dark-count probability.
Abstract In order to realize long‐distance quantum cryptography based on standard optical fiber network, we have developed a single‐photon detector at 1550 nm using InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiodes (APDs). To reduce the dark count probability, APDs were cooled and operated with a Gated Passive Quenching Circuit. A quantum efficiency of 13.7% was obtained at −55 °C while keeping the dark count probability per gate (2 ns) as low as 2.4 × 10−5. In this paper we will discuss the performance of the developed single‐photon detector in view of application to quantum cryptography. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 2, 86(5): 10–15, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/ecjb.10115