A novel active quenching circuit for single photon detection with Geiger mode avalanche photodiodes

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new active quenching circuit for single photon detection using avalanche photodiodes, achieving high efficiency, low dead time, and robust performance with simple, off-the-shelf components.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel active quenching circuit design that improves single photon detection performance and is easy to implement.

Findings

Dead time less than 40ns

Detection efficiency over 20%

Maximum counting frequency over 14MHz

Abstract

In this paper we present a novel construction of an active quenching circuit intended for single photon detection. For purpose of evaluation, we have combined this circuit with a standard avalanche photodiode C30902S to form a single photon detector. A series of measurements, presented here, show that this single photon detector has a dead time of less than 40ns, maximum random counting frequency of over 14MHz, low after pulsing, detection efficiency of over 20% and a good noise performance. This simple and robust active quenching circuit can be built from of-the-shelf electronic components and needs no complicated adjustments.