Implementable methods for characterizing single photon avalanche diode parameters

Abstract

Single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) is used in quantum detectors. Quantum detectors are widely used in quantum communication. The quality of these detectors strongly affects the optimal performance of the system. The quality of single photon detectors depends on various parameters, which are usually presented in the SPAD specification. If these detectors are made by the manufacturer or evaluated by the user, there is a need for a method to determine and check its main parameters. In this paper, a simple test setup for extracting some of important parameters has been designed and introduced, which can be used practically. These parameters include Dark Count Rate (DCR), Photon Detection Efficiency (PDE), AfterPulse Probability (APP) and Dead time. In the presented design, an FPGA chip is used to measure the parameters. FPGA is responsible for the simultaneous control of the single photon source and the detector. The presented methods specify how to extract the desired parameters. The characterization methods and detailed formulas presented in this paper calculate SPAD parameters.