کنفرانس مهندسی برق ایران

صفحه اصلی / سی و چهارمین کنفرانس بین المللی مهندسی برق

Afterpulse and Dark Count Simulator for Single Photon Avalanche Diodes

نویسندگان :

Mahdi Rahmanpour¹ Alireza Erfanian² Ahmad Afifi³ Mahdi Khaje⁴ Mohammad Hossein Fahimifar⁵

1- صنعتی مالک اشتر 2- صنعتی مالک اشتر 3- صنعتی مالک اشتر 4- صنعتی مالک اشتر 5- صنعتی مالک اشتر

کلمات کلیدی :

SPAD،Afterpulse،Dark Count،Simulator،Model

چکیده :

A Single-Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) is a highly sensitive optoelectronic device capable of detecting individual photons. Its ability to capture the timing and frequency of photon arrivals makes it essential in applications such as Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). While QKD relies on periodic photon emission, LiDAR requires precise measurement of time intervals between photon transmission and reception. However, the performance of SPADs is often compromised by the generation of unwanted pulses, primarily categorized as Dark Count Rate (DCR) and Afterpulse Probability (APP). Dark counts are false detections that occur without incident photons, typically due to thermal noise, while afterpulse result from trapped carriers that are released after an avalanche event. Accurate modeling of these unwanted pulses is crucial for improving SPAD performance. In this paper, we propose a novel simulation method for modeling dark counts and afterpulse using an FPGA-based architecture. The proposed model is first developed and verified in MATLAB, and is designed for hardware implementation using VHDL. The estimator equations in the model incorporate key parameters influencing DCR and APP, enabling realistic simulation of SPAD output, including both genuine photon detections and noise-induced pulses. This approach provides a flexible and efficient platform for analyzing and mitigating the effects of noise in SPAD-based systems.