High photon detection efficiency InGaAs/InP single photon avalanche diode at 250 K

Abstract

Planar semiconductor InGaAs/InP single photon avalanche diodes with high responsivity and low dark count rate are preferred single photon detectors in near-infrared communication. However, even with well-designed structures and well-controlled operational conditions, the performance of InGaAs/InP SPADs is limited by the inherent characteristics of avalanche process and the growth quality of InGaAs/InP materials. It is difficult to ensure high detection efficiency while the dark count rate is controlled within a certain range at present. In this paper, we fabricated a device with a thick InGaAs absorption region and an anti-reflection layer. The quantum efficiency of this device reaches 83.2%. We characterized the single-photon performance of the device by a quenching circuit consisting of parallel-balanced InGaAs/InP single photon detectors and single-period sinusoidal pulse gating. The spike pulse caused by the capacitance effect of the device is eliminated by using the characteristics of parallel balanced common mode signal elimination, and the detection of small avalanche pulse amplitude signal is realized. The maximum detection efficiency is 55.4% with a dark count rate of 43.8 kHz and a noise equivalent power of 6.96 × 10−17 W/Hz1/2 at 247 K. Compared with other reported detectors, this SPAD exhibits higher SPDE and lower noise-equivalent power at a higher cooling temperature.

Development of InGaAs/AlGaAsSb Geiger Mode Avalanche Photodiodes

“…Values of breakdown voltage were extracted by extrapolating M -1 (V) to zero for each temperature point, yielding a Cbd value of 13.5 mV.K -1 . This is much lower compared to ~100 mV.K -1 [32] and 20-50 mV.K -1 [23][24][25][26] for InGaAs/InP and InGaAs/InAlAs APDs.…”

“…Recently, Al0.85Ga0.15As0.56Sb0.44 (AlGaAsSb) has emerged as a superior avalanche material for Linear mode APDs, with experimental reports of highly dissimilar ionization coefficients [28] and low excess noise factor [29] (resulting in very low Noise-Equivalent-Power [30]). Reported values of Cbd for a GaAsSb/AlGaAsSb SAM APD are ~4 mV/K [31], lower than equivalent InGaAs-based APDs with InP (~100 mV.K -1 ) [32] and InAlAs (~20-50 mV.K -1 ) [23][24][25][26] avalanche layers. Having very low Cbd values is advantageous for achieving SPADs with higher operation stability.…”

GHz photon-number resolving detection with high detection efficiency and low noise by ultra-narrowband interference circuits

“…For example, it is necessary to maintain both high detection efficiency and low dark count or/and afterpulse noise for quantum key distribution application [2] . Among different applications, there may be different focuses on count rate, spectral range, dead time, and timing jitter, and even the ability to resolve photon numbers [9,10] .…”

Comparative Study of Polarization‐Dependent Conversion Efficiency of GaAs and Si Solar Cells at Oblique Incident Angles Using Surface DLAR Coating of MgF2/ZnSe

“…[20] To increase the detection effectiveness of InGaAs detectors, He et al and Carrasco et al applied antireflection coatings such SiNx. [21,22] YF 3 and ZnS double-layer and multi-layer anti-reflection coatings for HgCdTe detectors were studied by D'souza et al and Saini et al, respectively, using theories and experiments. [23] At the wavelength range of 6-14 μm, De Vita et al achieved a transmission improvement ratio of 28% by depositing a ZnS-based anti-reflection coating on a Si plate.…”

“…applied anti‐reflection coatings such SiNx. [ 21,22 ] YF 3 and ZnS double‐layer and multi‐layer anti‐reflection coatings for HgCdTe detectors were studied by D'souza et al. and Saini et al., respectively, using theories and experiments.…”