Design of a hold-off time control circuit for geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes

Deng, Shijie; Morrison, Alan P.

Design of a hold-off time control circuit for geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes

Files

5949_IJMCS2012.pdf(497.81 KB)

Accepted version

Date

2012

Authors

Deng, Shijie

Morrison, Alan P.

Publisher

Lodz University of Technology. Department of Microelectronics and Computer Science

Abstract

A high-resolution hold-off time control circuit for Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes (GM-APDs) that enables linear changes to the hold-off time from several nanoseconds to microseconds is presented. The resolution of the hold-off time can be varied from nanoseconds to tens of nanoseconds with a range up to microseconds to cater for a variety of GM-APDs. This circuit allows setting of the optimal 'afterpulse-free' hold-off time for any GM-APD through digital inputs or additional signal processing circuitry. With this circuit, the APD is automatically reset following the end of the hold-off period that further simplifies the end-user’s control. A layout of this circuit is designed using a conventional 0.15 μm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process, resulting a area of 95 μm × 55 μm which makes it suitable for use with APD arrays.

Keywords

Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes (GM-APD) , Afterpulsing , Quench circuit , Hold-off time

Citation

Deng, S., Morrison, A. P. (2012) 'Design of a Hold-off Time Control Circuit for Geiger-mode Avalanche Photodiodes', International Journal of Microelectronics and Computer Science, 3 (2), pp. 53-59. https://journal.dmcs.p.lodz.pl/documents/10630/23999/JMCS_2_2012-3.pdf