Eraerds Patrick, Pomarico Enrico, Zhang Jun, Sanguinetti Bruno, Thew Rob, Zbinden Hugo
Group of Applied Physics, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
Rev Sci Instrum. 2010 Oct;81(10):103105. doi: 10.1063/1.3494616.
We present two implementations of photon counting time-multiplexing detectors for near-infrared wavelengths, based on Peltier cooled InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiodes. A first implementation is motivated by practical considerations using only commercially available components. It features 16 bins, pulse repetition rates of up to 22 kHz, and a large range of applicable pulse widths of up to 100 ns. A second implementation is based on rapid gating detectors, permitting dead times below 10 ns. This allows one to realize a high dynamic-range 32 bin detector, able to process pulse repetition rates of up to 6 MHz for pulse widths of up to 200 ps. Analysis of the detector response at 16.5% detection efficiency reveals a single-shot energy resolution on the attojoule level.