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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Physical-Technical Series

Study of the characteristics of germanium avalanche photodiodes in the photon counting mode

Иван Романович Гулаков, А. О. Зеневич, O. V. Kochergina, T. A. Matkovskaia

Published Jul 2, 2022• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

A study was made of the characteristics of photodetectors for fiber-optic communication lines using quantum cryptographic systems – germanium avalanche photodiodes operating in the photon counting mode. In particular, it was established at what highest temperature the implementation of the photon counting mode is possible, and the influence of temperature and overvoltage on the sensitivity of photodiodes is also considered. An experimental setup has been developed for the research. It has been determined that the highest ambient temperature at which LFD-2 germanium avalanche photodiodes operate in the photon counting mode is 243 K. It has also been found that the highest sensitivity of germanium avalanche photodiodes corresponds to the optical radiation wavelength range of 1310÷1490 nm. Lowering the temperature leads to an increase in the sensitivity of germanium avalanche photodiodes. It was found that the dependence of the signal-to-noise ratio on overvoltage has a maximum corresponding to overvoltage ΔU = 0.1 V. Lowering the temperature led to an increase in sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio. Since there was no shift in the maximum dependence of the signal-to-noise ratio on the overvoltage, it was therefore concluded that when the avalanche photodiode operates in the photon counting mode, in order to ensure maximum sensitivity, it is necessary to select the overvoltage corresponding to the maximum signal-to-noise ratio. The results obtained can be used in quantum cryptographic systems, technical means of protecting information transmitted over fiber-optic communication lines, and for the metrology of single-photon radiation sources.

DOI
10.29235/1561-8358-2022-67-2-222-229

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A study was made of the characteristics of photodetectors for fiber-optic communication lines using quantum cryptographic systems – germanium avalanche photodiodes operating in the photon counting mode. In particular, it was established at what highest temperature the implementation of the photon counting mode is possible, and the influence of temperature and overvoltage on the sensitivity of photodiodes is also considered. An experimental setup has been developed for the research. It has been determined that the highest ambient temperature at which LFD-2 germanium avalanche photodiodes operate in the photon counting mode is 243 K. It has also been found that the highest sensitivity of germanium avalanche photodiodes corresponds to the optical radiation wavelength range of 1310÷1490 nm. Lowering the temperature leads to an increase in the sensitivity of germanium avalanche photodiodes. It was found that the dependence of the signal-to-noise ratio on overvoltage has a maximum corresponding to overvoltage ΔU = 0.1 V. Lowering the temperature led to an increase in sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio. Since there was no shift in the maximum dependence of the signal-to-noise ratio on the overvoltage, it was therefore concluded that when the avalanche photodiode operates in the photon counting mode, in order to ensure maximum sensitivity, it is necessary to select the overvoltage corresponding to the maximum signal-to-noise ratio. The results obtained can be used in quantum cryptographic systems, technical means of protecting information transmitted over fiber-optic communication lines, and for the metrology of single-photon radiation sources.
We demonstrate the possibility of blinding attacks on silicon avalanche photodiodes operating at room temperature and used in quantum cryptographic systems for the detection of single-photon radiation pulses at a wavelength of 850 nm. The parameters of different silicon avalanche photodiodes in the event of their blinding are determined. The possibility of detecting blinding attacks on avalanche photodiodes by controlling the electrical current through the photodiode is established. According to the obtained results, different radiant exposures of multiphoton optical pulses are required to imitate single-photon pulses for different avalanche photodiodes, and the duration of the optical pulses must be shorter than 1 µs. We determine that information on the properties of the avalanche photodetector used in the quantum cryptographic system is required to select the intensity of the optical emission and radiant exposure of multiphoton optical pulses for executing a blinding attack. A schematic of the experimental setup used to investigate blinding attacks and oscillograms of the output signals of avalanche photodiodes under such conditions are presented.
Modeling and design of a single photon detector and its various characteristics are presented. It is a type of avalanche photo diode (APD) designed to suit the requirements of a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) detection system. The device is modeled to operate in a gated mode at liquid nitrogen temperature for minimum noise and maximum gain. Different types of APDs are compared for best performance. The APD is part of an optical communication link, which is a private channel to transmit the key signal. The encrypted message is sent via a public channel. The optical link operates at a wavelength of 1.55μm. The design is based on InGaAs with a quantum efficiency of more than 75% and a multiplication factor of 1000. The calculated dark current is below 10-12A with an overall signal to noise ratio better than 18 dB. The device sensitivity is better than -40 dBm, which is more than an order of magnitude higher than the dark current, corresponding to a detection sensitivity of two photons in pico-second pulses.
This paper gives experimental results of quantum key distribution on a fiber-optic setup at a telecom wavelength of 1555 nm. A self-compensated two-channel optical circuit is used. Quantum key distribution was performed by coding the phase states of single photons radiated by a pulsed semiconductor laser in two alternative nonorthogonal bases. Specially developed single photon counters based on InGaAs: InP avalanche photodiodes were employed as high-sensitivity photodetectors. The results of investigation of the quantum efficiency, probability of afterpulses, and noise level for various operating modes of the detectors at temperatures from −40 to −60°C are given. A key distribution rate of 450 bit/s was obtained for a single-mode fiber-optic quantum communication channel between the receiver and sender 25 km long at a laser pulse clock frequency of 5 MHz and an average number of photons per pulse of about 0.2. For the achieved photodetector characteristics, the average number of errors in the quantum key did not exceed 3.7%.
Avalanche photodetectors based on InGaAs:P are the most sensitive and only detectors operating in the telecommunication wavelength range 1.30–1.55 μm in the fiber optic quantum cryptography systems that can operate in the single photon count mode. In contrast to the widely used silicon photodetectors for wavelengths up to 1 μm operating in a waiting mode, these detectors always operate in a gated mode. The production of an electron-hole pair in the process of the absorption of a photon and the subsequent appearance of an avalanche of carriers can be accompanied by the inverse processes of the recombination and emission of photons. Such a backward emission can present a potential serious problem for the stability of fiber optic quantum cryptography systems against passive probing. The results of analyzing the detection of backscattered radiation are reported. The probability of such an emission has been estimated.