Single photon avalanche detectors: prospects of new quenching and gain mechanisms

Abstract

While silicon single-photon avalanche diodes (SPAD) have reached very high detection efficiency and timing resolution, their use in fibre-optic communications, optical free space communications, and infrared sensing and imaging remains limited. III-V compounds including InGaAs and InP are the prevalent materials for 1550 nm light detection. However, even the most sensitive 1550 nm photoreceivers in optical communication have a sensitivity limit of a few hundred photons. Today, the only viable approach to achieve single-photon sensitivity at 1550 nm wavelength from semiconductor devices is to operate the avalanche detectors in Geiger mode, essentially trading dynamic range and speed for sensitivity. As material properties limit the performance of Ge and III-V detectors, new conceptual insight with regard to novel quenching and gain mechanisms could potentially address the performance limitations of III-V SPADs. Novel designs that utilise internal self-quenching and negative feedback can be used to harness the sensitivity of single-photon detectors, while drastically reducing the device complexity and increasing the level of integration. Incorporation of multiple gain mechanisms, together with self-quenching and built-in negative feedback, into a single device also hold promise for a new type of detector with single-photon sensitivity and large dynamic range.

Avalanche photodetectors based on two-dimensional layered materials

“…The silicon based single-photon avalanche detectors (SPADs) have exceptional low dark count rate (the probability of recording false counts) below 1 kHz and high detection efficiency (the overall probability of registering a count if a photon arrives at the SPAD) greater than 50% [50]. Geiger mode means that the SPAD is operated above the breakdown voltage, where a photogenerated electron-hole pair can trigger a significant selfsustaining avalanche via impact ionization [61,62]. In actual application, an external quenching electronics must be used to reset the bias voltage below the breakdown threshold for a short time, so that the avalanche process can be stopped and the SPAD can be used for detection of another incident photon.…”

“…However, semiconductor materials with lower ionization energy and higher carrier mobilities are more suitable for avalanche photodiodes. The most used bulk semiconductors for avalanche photodiodes are silicon and III-V compound semiconductors [54,55,62]. This section mainly reviews the operating principle, performance, advantages, and disadvantages of these two types of devices.…”

“…The silicon based SPADs can only detect photons with wavelengths of up to around 1,100 nm because the bandgap of silicon semiconductor is 1.1 eV. To extend the detection wavelength to telecommunication range, narrow-bandgap semiconductors must be used [59,62,66,67]. III-V semiconductors such as InGaAs have bandgap of around 0.7 eV, which are promising material candidates for infrared single-photon detection [55].…”

Characteristics Measurement in a Deep UV Single Photon Detector Based on a TE-cooled 4H-SiC APD

“…For successful SPAD operation, it is important to create control electronics that can drive the APD in Geiger mode while also controlling APD temperature, one of the most important SPAD parameters affecting their characteristics [2], [14], [15], [16]. Depending on the design of the quenching circuit, SPADs can be defined as passive, active, or gate type [17]. In terms of spectral range, since a huge demand in a variety of quantum technologies such as quantum key distributions, quantum communication, and quantum computing is mainly concentrated in the visible and infrared regions, Si-and InGaAs-based SPADs have been actively studied [11], [16], [18], [19], [20], [21].…”

Nature of Photoelectric Effect in a Ge-on-Si SPAD at Ultralow Energy in Incident Pulsed Laser Radiation

“…Metrology of extremely low radiation energies/powers is the subject of vital importance for R&D in the area of quantum technologies, which include quantum communications [1] using quantum key distribution [2,3], secret sharing [4], cryptography [5] protocols, quantum computing [6] and quantum information processing [7]. It also secures progress in more classical technologies [8] such as deep space communications [9], telecommunications [10], sensing [11], rangefinding, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) [12] and depth imaging of objects [13], including imaging through various densities of different obscurants [14] and even covert imaging [15] applications. Single-photon detectors (SPD) are the devices that do the job.…”