Efficient communication at telecom wavelengths using wavelength conversion and silicon photon-counting detectors

M. E. Grein; L. E. Elgin; B. S. Robinson; David O. Caplan; Mark L. Stevens; S. A. Hamilton; D. M. Boroson; C. Langrock; M. M. Fejer

doi:10.1117/12.738502

25 September 2007 Efficient communication at telecom wavelengths using wavelength conversion and silicon photon-counting detectors

M. E. Grein, L. E. Elgin, B. S. Robinson, David O. Caplan, Mark L. Stevens, S. A. Hamilton, D. M. Boroson, C. Langrock, M. M. Fejer

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6709, Free-Space Laser Communications VII; 670910 (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.738502
Event: Optical Engineering + Applications, 2007, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Silicon Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes (Si GM-APDs) have desirable properties for an optical photon-counting receiver, including high single-photon detection efficiency, low reset time, and low timing jitter; however, they do not detect near-IR photons. In this work, we demonstrated a sensitive photon-counting receiver in the near-IR by combining a wavelength converter consisting of a periodically-poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide and a commercial Si GM-APD detector. We measured a receiver sensitivity from 1.4 to 3.5 incident photons/bit from 5.5 Mb/s to 22 Mb/s for a single detector, and achieved a sensitivity of 4 photons/bit at 78 Mb/s using an emulated array of 25 detectors.

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M. E. Grein, L. E. Elgin, B. S. Robinson, David O. Caplan, Mark L. Stevens, S. A. Hamilton, D. M. Boroson, C. Langrock, and M. M. Fejer "Efficient communication at telecom wavelengths using wavelength conversion and silicon photon-counting detectors", Proc. SPIE 6709, Free-Space Laser Communications VII, 670910 (25 September 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.738502

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