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Advantages of gated silicon single photon detectors (1208.4205v1)
Published 21 Aug 2012 in physics.ins-det and quant-ph
Abstract: We present a gated silicon single photon detector based on a commercially available avalanche photodiode. Our detector achieves a photon detection efficiency of 45\pm5% at 808 nm with 2x 10-6 dark count per ns at -30V of excess bias and -30{\deg}C. We compare gated and free-running detectors and show that this mode of operation has significant advantages in two representative experimental scenarios: detecting a single photon either hidden in faint continuous light or after a strong pulse. We also explore, at different temperatures and incident light intensities, the "charge persistence" effect, whereby a detector clicks some time after having been illuminated.