All-Silicon 1.55-μm High-Resolution Photon Counting and Timing

Author

Tosi, Alberto ; Dalla Mora, Alberto ; Zappa, Franco

Author_Institution

Dipt. di Elettron. e Inf., Politec. di Milano, Milan, Italy

Volume

20

Issue

23

fYear

2008

Firstpage

1956

Lastpage

1958

Abstract

We investigate the performances at 1.55-μm wavelength of silicon single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs), demonstrating their suitable applicability in laser characterizations and ultra-sensitive autocorrelation measurements. We investigate the photon detection efficiency and the two-photon absorption process of both lightly doped thick SPADs and heavily doped thin SPADs. Finally, we report the accurate pulse-shape characterization of a 1.55-μm pulsed laser by means of a thin silicon SPAD that exploits the best intrinsic time resolution of 25 ps with wide dynamic range and low measurement time.

Keywords

avalanche photodiodes; laser beams; laser variables measurement; photodetectors; photon counting; two-photon processes; Si; avalanche photodiodes; laser characterization; photon detection efficiency; photon timing; pulse-shape characterization; silicon single photon avalanche diodes; thin silicon SPAD; time 25 ps; time-correlated single photon counting; two-photon absorption process; ultra-sensitive autocorrelation measurement; wavelength 1.55 mum; Absorption; Autocorrelation; Diodes; Dynamic range; Optical pulses; Performance evaluation; Pulse measurements; Silicon; Timing; Wavelength measurement; Avalanche photodiodes; correlation; optical fibers; single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD); time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LPT.2008.2005788

Filename

4663540