Ge-on-Si single-photon avalanche diode detectors: design, modeling, fabrication, and characterization at wavelengths 1310 and 1550 nm

The design, modeling, fabrication, and characterization of single-photon avalanche diode detectors with an epitaxial Ge absorption region grown directly on Si are presented. At 100 K, a single-photon detection efficiency of 4% at 1310 nm wavelength was measured with a dark count rate of ~ 6 megacounts/s, resulting in the lowest reported noise-equivalent power for a Ge-on-Si single-photon avalanche diode detector (1×10-14 WHz-1/2). The first report of 1550 nm wavelength detection efficiency measurements with such a device is presented. A jitter of 300 ps was measured, and preliminary tests on after-pulsing showed only a small increase (a factor of 2) in the normalized dark count rate when the gating frequency was increased from 1 kHz to 1 MHz. These initial results suggest that optimized devices integrated on Si substrates could potentially provide performance comparable to or better than that of many commercially available discrete technologies

Enhancing the fill-factor of CMOS SPAD arrays using microlens integration

Arrays of single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) detectors were fabricated, using a 0.35 μm CMOS technology process, for use in applications such as time-of-flight 3D ranging and microscopy. Each 150 x 150 μm pixel comprises a 30 μm active area diameter SPAD and its associated circuitry for counting, timing and quenching, resulting in a fill-factor of 3.14%. This paper reports how a higher effective fill-factor was achieved as a result of integrating microlens arrays on top of the 32 x 32 SPAD arrays. Diffractive and refractive microlens arrays were designed to concentrate the incoming light onto the active area of each pixel. A telecentric imaging system was used to measure the improvement factor (IF) resulting from microlens integration, whilst varying the f-number of incident light from f/2 to f/22 in one-stop increments across a spectral range of 500-900 nm. These measurements have demonstrated an increasing IF with fnumber, and a maximum of ~16 at the peak wavelength, showing a good agreement with theoretical values. An IF of 16 represents the highest value reported in the literature for microlenses integrated onto a SPAD detector array. The results from statistical analysis indicated the variation of detector efficiency was between 3-10% across the whole f-number range, demonstrating excellent uniformity across the detector plane with and without microlenses

ALL FIBER STRAIN SENSOR BASED ON THE LASER SELF-MIXING EFFECT

We present the development of a no-contact sensor based on the laser-self-mixing effect for the simultaneous measurement of the linear and angular (yaw and pitch) degrees-of-freedom of the motion of a moving stage. The sensor is made up of three laser diodes with integrated monitor photodiodes and a plane mirror target. The measurement principle is described and a series of experiments is performed to test the proposed method by direct comparison with a reference meter system. Finally, the sensor is tested under complex displacement to validate the feasibility of simultaneous measurements of more than one degree-of-freedom. The proposed technique makes the system easier to align with respect to the traditional interferometric systems and no further optical elements are required in the laser head except for the laser chip and its integrated photodiode, thus providing an effective compact and low-cost motion control system

LA PLASTICA ESTERNA DELLA VALVOLA PRETERMINALE DELLA VENA GRANDE SAFENA

FIRENZ

Optimization of epitaxial growth for thick Ge-on-Si structures used for single photon avalanche diode applications

SPAD structures have been grown by RP-CVD and shown to have: excellent crystallinity, with low TDD; a smooth surface, suitable for device incorporation; and sharp doping profiles required to maximize performance. Device measurements have produced the highest SPDE of any Ge on Si SPAD recorded