Discrimination of Photon- and Dark-Initiated Signals in Multiple Gain Stage APD Photoreceivers

• Published in: IEEE journal of the Electron Devices Society Vol. 1; no. 4; pp. 99 - 110
• Main Authors: Williams, George M., Ramirez, David A., Hayat, Majeed, Huntington, Andrew S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01.04.2013
• Subjects: APD; Avalanche Buildup; Avalanche Photodiode; Excess Noise; Numeric Modeling; Photoreceiver; SCM; Single Carrier Multiplication; Superlattice APD

We demonstrate the ability of linear mode single carrier multiplication (SCM) avalanche photodiode (APD)-based optical receivers to discriminate single-photon-initiated avalanche events from dark-current-initiated events. Because of their random spatial origin in discrete regions of the depletion re...