Fast and compact time-correlated single photon counting system for high-speed measurement with low distortion

Giulia Acconcia; Serena Farina; Ivan Labanca; Massimo Ghioni; Ivan Rech

doi:10.1117/12.2546291

13 February 2020 Fast and compact time-correlated single photon counting system for high-speed measurement with low distortion

Giulia Acconcia, Serena Farina, Ivan Labanca, Massimo Ghioni, Ivan Rech

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 11246, Single Molecule Spectroscopy and Superresolution Imaging XIII; 1124608 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2546291
Event: SPIE BiOS, 2020, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

Time Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC) is a widely diffused technique used in scientific experiments requiring the analysis of optical pulses with high timing precision. One of the major limitations affecting this tool are distortion phenomena at high count rates happening due to pile-up. As a result, experiments must be carried out at a slower operating rate than the laser excitation frequency (1%-5%). It has been recently demonstrated that matching the detector dead time with the duration of the laser excitation period allows to overcome the aforementioned speed limitation, while still keeping distortion low. Theoretical results envision a speed improvement by almost an order of magnitude. In this work we present dedicated integrated electronics to implement the proposed idea. The selected detector for this design is a custom technology SPAD in order to achieve high performance. The SPAD is externally driven by an Active Quenching Circuit (AQC) that senses the avalanche current and provides a prompt quenching and reset of the detector. The AQC features a finely tunable dead time and a low reset time, two key aspects to achieve a very-low distortion regime and high efficiency. The detector electric signal is read out by a fully differential pick-up circuit, delivering a timing differential signal with picosecond precision and rejecting disturbances thanks to a dummy cell. A fast time-to-amplitude converter is used to measure the time of arrival of the photons with picoseconds precision and high linearity.

Citation Download Citation

Giulia Acconcia, Serena Farina, Ivan Labanca, Massimo Ghioni, and Ivan Rech "Fast and compact time-correlated single photon counting system for high-speed measurement with low distortion", Proc. SPIE 11246, Single Molecule Spectroscopy and Superresolution Imaging XIII, 1124608 (13 February 2020); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2546291

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available