Multi-gigahertz operation of photon counting InGaAs avalanche photodiodes

We report a 2 GHz operation of InGaAs avalanche photodiodes for efficient single photon detection at telecom wavelengths. Employing a self-differencing circuit that incorporates tuneability in both frequency and arm balancing, extremely weak avalanches can now be sensed so as to suppress afterpulsing. The afterpulse probability is characterized as 4.84% and 1.42% for a photon detection efficiency of 23.5% and 11.8%, respectively. The device will further increase the secure bit rate for fiber wavelength quantum key distribution.

[1]  D. Bethune,et al.  An autocompensating fiber-optic quantum cryptography system based on polarization splitting of light , 2000, IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics.

[2]  Akihisa Tomita,et al.  Balanced, gated-mode photon detector for quantum-bit discrimination at 1550 nm. , 2002, Optics letters.

[3]  Yasunori Saito,et al.  Development of a near-infrared photon-counting system using an InGaAs avalanche photodiode , 2002 .

[4]  Akio Yoshizawa,et al.  10.5 km Fiber-Optic Quantum Key Distribution at 1550 nm with a Key Rate of 45 kHz , 2004 .

[5]  Andrew J. Shields,et al.  On-demand single-photon source for 1.3μm telecom fiber , 2005 .

[6]  N. Namekata,et al.  800 MHz single-photon detection at 1550-nm using an InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiode operated with a sine wave gating. , 2006, Optics express.

[7]  A. W. Sharpe,et al.  High speed single photon detection in the near-infrared , 2007, 0707.4307.

[8]  A. W. Sharpe,et al.  A High Speed, Post-Processing Free, Quantum Random Number Generator , 2008, ArXiv.

[9]  A. J. Shields,et al.  An avalanche-photodiode-based photon-number-resolving detector , 2008, 0807.0330.

[10]  J. Dynes,et al.  Gigahertz decoy quantum key distribution with 1 Mbit/s secure key rate. , 2008, Optics express.

[11]  Jun Zhang,et al.  Practical fast gate rate InGaAs/InP single-photon avalanche photodiodes , 2009, 0908.2230.

[12]  Naoto Namekata,et al.  1.5 GHz single-photon detection at telecommunication wavelengths using sinusoidally gated InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiode. , 2009, Optics express.

[13]  H. Takesue,et al.  Efficient entanglement distribution over 200 kilometers. , 2009, Optics express.

[14]  X. Gu,et al.  High-speed InGaAs/InP-based single-photon detector with high efficiency , 2009 .

[15]  A. R. Dixon,et al.  Ultrashort dead time of photon-counting InGaAs avalanche photodiodes , 2009, 0905.2931.

[16]  James F. Dynes,et al.  Practical gigahertz quantum key distribution based on avalanche photodiodes , 2009 .