No Arabic abstract
We present a compact and lightweight 1.5 {mu}m lidar using a free-running single-photon detector (SPD) based on a multi-mode fiber (MMF) coupling InGaAs/InP negative feedback avalanche diode. The ultimate light detection sensitivity of SPD highly reduces the power requirement of laser, whilst the enhanced collection efficiency due to MMF coupling significantly reduces the volume and weight of telescopes. We develop a specific algorithm for the corrections of errors caused by the SPD and erbium-doped fiber amplifier to extract accurate backscattering signals. We also perform a comparison between single-mode fiber (SMF) coupling and MMF coupling in the lidar receiver, and the results show that the collection efficiency with MMF coupling is five times higher than SMF coupling. In order to validate the functionality, we use the lidar system for the application of cloud detection. The lidar system exhibits the ability to detect both the cloud base height and the thickness of multi-layer clouds to an altitude of 12 km with a temporal resolution of 1 s and a spatial resolution of 15 m. Due to the advantages of compactness and lightweight, our lidar system can be installed on unmanned aerial vehicles for wide applications in practice.
We measure the detection efficiency of single-photon detectors at wavelengths near 851 nm and 1533.6 nm. We investigate the spatial uniformity of one free-space-coupled single-photon avalanche diode and present a comparison between fusion-spliced and connectorized fiber-coupled single-photon detectors. We find that our expanded relative uncertainty for a single measurement of the detection efficiency is as low as 0.70 % for fiber-coupled measurements at 1533.6 nm and as high as 1.78 % for our free-space characterization at 851.7 nm. The detection-efficiency determination includes corrections for afterpulsing, dark count, and count-rate effects of the single-photon detector with the detection efficiency interpolated to operation at a specified detected count rate.
In this work, we present a stand-alone and fiber-coupled quantum-light source. The plug-and-play device is based on an optically driven quantum dot delivering single photons via an optical fiber. The quantum dot is deterministically integrated in a monolithic microlens which is precisely coupled to the core of an optical fiber via active optical alignment and epoxide adhesive bonding. The rigidly coupled fiber-emitter assembly is integrated in a compact Stirling cryocooler with a base temperature of 35 K. We benchmark our practical quantum device via photon auto-correlation measurements revealing $g^{(2)}(0)=0.07 pm 0.05$ under continuous-wave excitation and we demonstrate triggered non-classical light at a repetition rate of 80 MHz. The long-term stability of our quantum light source is evaluated by endurance tests showing that the fiber-coupled quantum dot emission is stable within 4% over several successive cool-down/warm-up cycles. Additionally, we demonstrate non-classical photon emission for a user-intervention-free 100-hour test run and stable single-photon count rates up to 11.7 kHz with a standard deviation of 4%.
We characterize a near-infrared single-photon detector based on an InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiode and the self-differencing post-processing technique. It operates at gate rates of 200 MHz and higher. The compact, integrated design employs printed circuit boards and features a semiconductor-based self-differencing subtraction implemented with a fully differential amplifier. At a single-photon detection efficiency of 6.4%, the detector has a dark count probability of 9x10^-7 per gate, an afterpulse probability of 6.3% per detection event, a detection time jitter of 150 ps, and a dead time of 5 ns (equivalent to one gate period). Furthermore, it can be operated as a standard photodiode, which benefits applications that require detecting single photons as well as strong light signals.
We report on a gated single-photon detector based on InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiodes (APDs) with a single-photon detection efficiency exceeding 55% at 1550 nm. Our detector is gated at 1 GHz and employs the self-differencing technique for gate transient suppression. It can operate nearly dead time free, except for the one clock cycle dead time intrinsic to self-differencing, and we demonstrate a count rate of 500 Mcps. We present a careful analysis of the optimal driving conditions of the APD measured with a dead time free detector characterization setup. It is found that a shortened gate width of 360 ps together with an increased driving signal amplitude and operation at higher temperatures leads to improved performance of the detector. We achieve an afterpulse probability of 7% at 50% detection efficiency with dead time free measurement and a record efficiency for InGaAs/InP APDs of 55% at an afterpulse probability of only 10.2% with a moderate dead time of 10 ns.
Here we propose a new design paradigm for a superconducting nanowire single photon detector that uses a multi-layer architecture that places the electric leads beneath the nanowires. This allows for a very large number of detector elements, which we will call pixels in analogy to a conventional CCD camera, to be placed in close proximity. This leads to significantly better photon number resolution than current single and multi-nanowire meanders, while maintaining similar detection areas. We discuss the reset time of the pixels and how the design can be modified to avoid the latching failure seen in extremely short superconducting nanowires. These advantages give a multi-layer superconducting number-resolving photon detector significant advantages over the current design paradigm of long superconducting nanowire meanders. Such advantages are desirable in a wide array of photonics applications.