Afterpulsing model based on the quasi-continuous distribution of deep levels in single-photon avalanche diodes

Abstract

We have performed a statistical characterization of the effect of afterpulsing in a free-running silicon single-photon detector by measuring the distribution of afterpulse waiting times in response to pulsed illumination and fitting it by a sum of exponentials. We show that a high degree of goodness of fit can be obtained for five exponentials, but the physical meaning of estimated characteristic times is dubious. We show that a continuous limit of the sum of exponentials with a uniform density between the limiting times gives excellent fitting results in the full range of the detector response function. This means that in certain detectors, the afterpulsing is caused by a continuous band of deep levels in the active area of the photodetector.

Keywords:

• Single-photon detector
• afterpulsing
• quantum measurements

Notes

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by Belarus State Programme for Scientific Research ‘Convergence’ and by Belarusian Republican Foundation for Fundamental Research.