Photon counting in the 1540-nm wavelength region with a germanium avalanche photodiode

Author

Duraffourg, L. ; Mérolla, J.M. ; Goedgebuer, J.P. ; Butterlin, N. ; Rhodes, W.T.

Author_Institution

GTL-CNRS Telecom, Metz, France

Volume

37

Issue

1

fYear

2001

fDate

1/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

75

Lastpage

79

Abstract

Unexpected results have been obtained in measurements of dark-count rate and quantum efficiency (QE) for a germanium avalanche photodiode operating in the photon counting regime at 1540-nm wavelength. A liquid-nitrogen cooled Ge single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) exhibited both a low dark-count rate and a QE of the order of 1%, which is at least one order of magnitude higher than the values reported for such a device. The data offer hope for future diodes that might match such performance. Reasons for the device´s extraordinarily good performance, a performance level not matched by the other 17 APDs in the collection investigated, are not understood. Such high quantum efficiency germanium devices could be used in one-bit-per-photon communication systems operating in the 1540-nm telecommunications window

Keywords

avalanche photodiodes; elemental semiconductors; error statistics; germanium; infrared detectors; optical fibre communication; optical transmitters; photodetectors; photon counting; 1540 nm; Ge; Ge avalanche photodiode; Ge single-photon avalanche diode; N₂; dark-count rat; liquid-N₂ cooling; one-bit-per-photon communication systems; performance; performance level; photon counting; quantum efficiency; telecommunications window; wavelength region; Avalanche photodiodes; Cooling; Cryptography; Diodes; Germanium; Indium gallium arsenide; Laboratories; Performance evaluation; Silicon; Wavelength measurement;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.892727

Filename

892727