High-speed InGaAs/InP-based single-photon detector with high efficiency

Abstract

An efficient single-photon detector at telecom wavelength of 1.55 μm was realized with an InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiode at −30 °C. By implementing a short gating pulse and optimizing the self-differencing circuit, a detection efficiency of 29.3% was achieved with an error count probability of 6% at the gating frequency of 200 MHz, paving the way for the high-efficiency and low-noise fast detection of the infrared single photons.