Enhanced photon avalanche

Delena Bell Gatch, William M. Dennis, William M. Yen

We present a new infrared (IR) detection scheme based on the infrared quantum counter (IRQC) detector and utilizing the photon avalanche process. At the time of its discovery, the phenomenon of photon avalanche was considered a limitation rather than an advantage for the development of IRQC. Both the experimental results and the numerical modeling presented demonstrate that the process responsible for photon avalanche can be used to enhance the detection of an IR signal. A new room-temperature IR detection scheme is proposed on the basis of the results of this research. The novel detection scheme presented demonstrates an increase in detectivity and a decrease in the noise-equivalent power when compared with the IRQC schemes previously discussed in the literature.

Joachim Piprek

M. V. Korolkov, I. A. Khodasevich, A. S. Grabtchikov +2 more

Here we report and discuss the avalanche-like up-conversion behavior in absence of the avalanche. We experimentally observed significant changes in the slope of the curve for the intensity dependence of up-conversion luminescence of erbium ions in the green band (520-560 nm) on the pump intensity of the diode laser. Such changes are typical for the photon avalanche. However, the concentration of erbium ions is insufficient for an efficient exchange of energy between them, and the excitation of a photon avalanche is not possible. Using a simple three-level approximation of the up-conversion process model, we have shown that the observed avalanche-like luminescence process can also occur in the absence of a photon avalanche due to the nonlinear relation between the efficiency of two pumping channels of erbium ions caused by the intensity dependence of the pump spectrum.

E. Yu. Perlin, R. S. Levitskiĭ

This paper discusses the process of triggering photon avalanche in deep doped quantum wells. The threshold intensities of the IR light that causes the avalanche are hundreds of kilowatts per square centimeter. The energies for switching the system between states with strong and weak absorption of the pump light are tens of femtojoules per square micrometer.

David P. Hamilton