High-Rate Photon Counting and Picosecond Timing with Silicon-SPAD based Compact Detector Modules

New detector modules exploit recent progress in the technology of silicon Single-Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPAD) and in the design of the associated electronic circuitry. SPAD detectors with diameter up to 100μm, good photon detection efficiency (48% peak at 530nm wavelength) and low dark counting rate are employed. Monolithic integrated active-quenching circuits (iAQC) and fast time-pickoff circuits ensure efficient photon counting and timing, with better than 50ps FWHM and less than 10ps centroid shift up to high counting rates exceeding 5Mc/s. Experimental tests of the module performance and application examples are presented.