Single-photon detection timing jitter in a visible light photon counter

TL;DR

This paper measures the timing jitter of a visible light photon counter (VLPC), showing its dependence on wavelength and bias voltage, which is crucial for applications in precise photon timing measurements.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed measurement of single-photon timing jitter in a VLPC under cryogenic conditions, highlighting its performance characteristics.

Findings

Timing jitter is 240 ps at 550 nm

Jitter increases to 300 ps at 1000 nm

Jitter increases at lower bias voltages

Abstract

Visible light photon counters (VLPCs) offer many attractive features as photon detectors, such as high quantum efficiency and photon number resolution. We report measurements of the single-photon timing jitter in a VLPC, a critical performance factor in a time-correlated single-photon counting measurement, in a fiber-coupled closed-cycle cryocooler. The measured timing jitter is 240 ps full-width-at-half-maximum at a wavelength of 550 nm, with a dark count rate of 25 000 counts per second. The timing jitter increases modestly at longer wavelengths to 300 ps at 1000 nm, and increases substantially at lower bias voltages as the quantum efficiency is reduced.