Efficiency-Resolved Recovery Dynamics of an Free-Running InGaAs/InP Single Photon Avalanche Detector Operated in Gated Mode

Abstract:Detection efficiency in gated-mode single-photon avalanche detectors recovers gradually after each gate edge, limiting attainable count rates, yet quantitative recovery models exist only for free-running operation. We extract the gated recovery time constant of a free-running InGaAs/InP detector at 1550 nm by sweeping the gate frequency from 100 kHz to 1 MHz and globally fitting count rates across four dead times, requiring neither a pulsed laser nor a time-to-digital converter. The recovery time decreases linearly with detection efficiency, from 301 to 161 ns between 10 % and 25 %, at 9.3 ns per percentage point. We further resolve a periodic count-rate modulation consistent with bias-dependent capacitive gate feedthrough.

Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Applied Physics (physics.app-ph); Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det)

arXiv:2609.17694 [quant-ph]

(or arXiv:2609.17694v1 [quant-ph] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2609.17694 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

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