Sine wave gating Silicon single-photon detectors for multiphoton entanglement experiments

TL;DR

This paper introduces high-efficiency silicon single-photon detectors using sine wave gating, enhancing multiphoton entanglement experiments by increasing detection efficiency and coincidence count rates.

Contribution

It presents a novel sine wave gating technique for silicon SPDs that improves detection efficiency and performance in multiphoton entanglement experiments.

Findings

Detection efficiency increased from 68.6% to 73.1%.

Four-photon coincidence count rate increased by 30%.

Visibility of entanglement was maintained.

Abstract

Silicon single-photon detectors (SPDs) are the key devices for detecting single photons in the visible wavelength range. Here we present high detection efficiency silicon SPDs dedicated to the generation of multiphoton entanglement based on the technique of high-frequency sine wave gating. The silicon single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) components are acquired by disassembling 6 commercial single-photon counting modules (SPCMs). Using the new quenching electronics, the average detection efficiency of SPDs is increased from 68.6% to 73.1% at a wavelength of 785 nm. These sine wave gating SPDs are then applied in a four-photon entanglement experiment, and the four-fold coincidence count rate is increased by 30% without degrading its visibility compared with the original SPCMs.