Compact InGaAs/InP Single-Photon Detector Module with Ultra-Narrowband Interference Circuits

Abstract

Gated InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiodes are the most practical device for detection of telecom single photons arriving at regular intervals. Here, we report the development of a compact single-photon detector (SPD) module measured just 8.8 × 6 × 2 cm3 in size and fully integrated with driving signal generation, faint avalanche readout, and discrimination circuits as well as temperature regulation and compensation. The readout circuit employs our previously reported ultra-narrowband interference circuits (UNICs) to eliminate the capacitive response to the gating signal. We characterize a UNIC-SPD module with a 1.25-GHz clock input and find its performance comparable to its counterpart built upon discrete functional blocks. Setting its detection efficiency to 30% for 1,550-nm photons, we obtain an afterpulsing probability of 2.4% and a dark count probability of 8 × 10−7 per gate under 3-ns hold-off time. We believe that UNIC-SPDs will be useful in important applications such as quantum key distribution.