Time-gated single-photon detection module with 110 ps transition time and up to 80 MHz repetition rate

Mauro Buttafava; Gianluca Boso; Alessandro Ruggeri; Alberto Dalla Mora; Alberto Tosi

doi:10.1063/1.4893385

Time-gated single-photon detection module with 110 ps transition time and up to 80 MHz repetition rate

Rev Sci Instrum. 2014 Aug;85(8):083114. doi: 10.1063/1.4893385.

Authors

Mauro Buttafava¹, Gianluca Boso¹, Alessandro Ruggeri¹, Alberto Dalla Mora², Alberto Tosi¹

Affiliations

¹ Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Piazza Leonardo Da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
² Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Fisica, Piazza Leonardo Da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.

PMID: 25173253
DOI: 10.1063/1.4893385

Abstract

We present the design and characterization of a complete single-photon counting module capable of time-gating a silicon single-photon avalanche diode with ON and OFF transition times down to 110 ps, at repetition rates up to 80 MHz. Thanks to this sharp temporal filtering of incoming photons, it is possible to reject undesired strong light pulses preceding (or following) the signal of interest, allowing to increase the dynamic range of optical acquisitions up to 7 decades. A complete experimental characterization of the module highlights its very flat temporal response, with a time resolution of the order of 30 ps. The instrument is fully user-configurable via a PC interface and can be easily integrated in any optical setup, thanks to its small and compact form factor.