Active quench and reset integrated circuit with novel hold-off time control logic for Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes

This Letter presents an active quench-and-reset circuit for Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes (GM-APDs). The integrated circuit was fabricated using a conventional 0.35 mu m complementary metal oxide semiconductor process. Experimental results show that the circuit is capable of linearly setting the hold-off time from several nanoseconds to microseconds with a resolution of 6.5 ns. This allows the selection of the optimal afterpulse-free hold-off time for the GM-APD via external digital inputs or additional signal processing circuitry. Moreover, this circuit resets the APD automatically following the end of the hold-off period, thus simplifying the control for the end user. Results also show that a minimum dead time of 28.4 ns is achieved, demonstrating a saturated photon-counting rate of 35.2 Mcounts/s. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America