32ps timing jitter with a fully integrated front end circuit and single photon avalanche diodes

Acconcia, Giulia; Rech, Ivan; Labanca, Ivan; Ghioni, M.

doi:10.1049/el.2016.4559

Cited by 18 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 9 publications

(14 reference statements)

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“…On the other hand, a dedicated pick-up circuit is required to take maximum advantage of the excellent characteristics of custom detectors. In 2017, Acconcia et al presented an integrated Trans-Impedance Amplifier (TIA) followed by a fast voltage comparator, which enables to limit the timing jitter at 32 ps Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) when coupled with a custom SPAD [20].…”

Section: Pick-up Circuitmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately, when a large current pulse is injected in a trans-impedance stage (e.g. during the reset transition), the amplifier can move away from its initial bias condition and a relatively long recovery time is required to restore the proper biasing of the circuit, that is in the order of 10ns for the circuit proposed in [20]. In this scenario, if a photon is detected during the recovery time the rising edge of the avalanche current is sensed with different delay and precision with respect to a photon observed when the TIA is properly biased; as a consequence, the system cannot be used at high-frequency operation.…”

Section: Pick-up Circuitmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The circuit exploits two identical SPAD detectors, driven by the same AQC from the cathode side, while their anode terminals are connected to two integrated TIAs (TIA 1 and TIA 2 ), that read the current coming from the detectors at low input impedance. A fast differential comparator [20] combines the outputs of the two amplifiers to generate a voltage pulse which marks the photon arrival with picosecond precision. One of the detectors ("active" SPAD in Fig.…”

Section: Pick-up Circuitmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this way, any disturbance generated by the AQC gives rise to a common-mode signal at the comparator input and is rejected The architecture of the TIAs shown in Fig. 2 is a simplified version of the circuit proposed in [20]. In particular, in [20] a positive feedback loop was exploited to reduce the input impedance of the amplifier at low and medium frequencies below 40 Ohms.…”

Section: Pick-up Circuitmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2 is a simplified version of the circuit proposed in [20]. In particular, in [20] a positive feedback loop was exploited to reduce the input impedance of the amplifier at low and medium frequencies below 40 Ohms. Nevertheless, the presence of the positive loop came along with a long time needed to fully recover the initial bias condition after a strong current pulse was injected in the amplifier.…”

Section: Pick-up Circuitmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fast fully-integrated front-end circuit to overcome pile-up limits in time-correlated single photon counting with single photon avalanche diodes

Acconcia¹,

Cominelli²,

Ghioni³

et al. 2018

Opt. Express

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Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC) is an essential tool in many scientific applications, where the recording of optical pulses with picosecond precision is required. Unfortunately, a key issue has to be faced: distortion phenomena can affect TCSPC experiments at high count rates. In order to avoid this problem, TCSPC experiments have been commonly carried out by limiting the maximum operating frequency of a measurement channel below 5% of the excitation frequency, leading to a long acquisition time. Recently, it has been demonstrated that matching the detector dead time to the excitation period allows to keep distortion around zero regardless of the rate of impinging photons. This solution paves the way to unprecedented measurement speed in TCSPC experiments. In this scenario, the front-end circuits that drive the detector play a crucial role in determining the performance of the system, both in terms of measurement speed and timing performance. Here we present two fully integrated front-end circuits for Single Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs): a fast Active Quenching Circuit (AQC) and a fully-differential current pick-up circuit. The AQC can apply very fast voltage variations, as short as 1.6ns, to reset external custom-technology SPAD detectors. A fast reset, indeed, is a key parameter to maximize the measurement speed. The current pick-up circuit is based on a fully differential structure which allows unprecedented rejection of disturbances that typically affect SPAD-based systems at the end of the dead time. The circuit permits to sense the current edge resulting from a photon detection with picosecond accuracy and precision even a few picoseconds after the end of the dead time imposed by the AQC. This is a crucial requirement when the system is operated at high rates. Both circuits have been deeply characterized, especially in terms of achievable measurement speed and timing performance.

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Section: Pick-up Circuitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pick-up Circuitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pick-up Circuitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pick-up Circuitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pick-up Circuitmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Fast fully-integrated front-end circuit to overcome pile-up limits in time-correlated single photon counting with single photon avalanche diodes

Acconcia¹,

Cominelli²,

Ghioni³

et al. 2018

Opt. Express

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Recent Advances and Future Perspectives of Single‐Photon Avalanche Diodes for Quantum Photonics Applications

et al. 2020

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Photonic quantum technologies promise a revolution of the world of information processing, from simulation and computing to communication and sensing, thanks to the many advantages of exploiting single photons as quantum information carriers. In this scenario, single‐photon detectors play a key role. On the one hand, superconducting nanowire single‐photon detectors (SNSPDs) are able to provide remarkable performance on a broad spectral range, but their applicability is often limited by the need of cryogenic operating temperatures. On the other hand, single‐photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) overcome the intrinsic limitations of SNSPDs by providing a valid alternative at room temperature or slightly below. In this paper, the authors review the fundamental principles of the SPAD operation and provide a thorough discussion of the recent progress made in this field, comparing the performance of these devices with the requirements of the quantum photonics applications. In the end, the authors conclude with their vision of the future by summarizing prospects and unbeaten paths that can open new perspectives in the field of photonic quantum information processing.

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Triple epitaxial single‐photon avalanche diode for multichannel timing applications

et al. 2018

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In the last years, custom-technology single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) have demonstrated remarkable performance, thanks to the fine engineering process performed on the electric field profile. However, the integration of custom SPADs in detector arrays often conflicts with the low-threshold current sensing that is mandatory to extract the timing information. A new custom-technology SPAD is introduced, that exploits an extra epitaxial layer in order to reduce the capacitive coupling between the anode and the chip substrate. The new detector shows a state-of-the-art timing jitter of 34 ps full width at half maximum and a weak dependence on the detection threshold, even when the substrate is kept at a fixed voltage, as required by the implementation of multichannel photon timing systems.

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32ps timing jitter with a fully integrated front end circuit and single photon avalanche diodes

Cited by 18 publications

References 9 publications

Fast fully-integrated front-end circuit to overcome pile-up limits in time-correlated single photon counting with single photon avalanche diodes

Fast fully-integrated front-end circuit to overcome pile-up limits in time-correlated single photon counting with single photon avalanche diodes

Recent Advances and Future Perspectives of Single‐Photon Avalanche Diodes for Quantum Photonics Applications

Triple epitaxial single‐photon avalanche diode for multichannel timing applications

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