https://doi.org/10.1140/epjqt/s40507-021-00111-0
Research
A low-noise single-photon detector for long-distance free-space quantum communication
1
Russian Quantum Center, Skolkovo, 121205, Moscow, Russia
2
NTI Center for Quantum Communications, National University of Science and Technology MISiS, 119049, Moscow, Russia
3
Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo, N2L3G1, Waterloo, ON, Canada
4
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, N2L3G1, Waterloo, ON, Canada
5
Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI), Austrian Academy of Sciences, Boltzmanngasse 3, A-1090, Vienna, Austria
6
Shanghai Branch, National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information, University of Science and Technology of China, 201315, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Received:
15
October
2020
Accepted:
28
September
2021
Published online:
26
October
2021
We build and test a single-photon detector based on a Si avalanche photodiode Excelitas 30902SH thermoelectrically cooled to −100∘C. Our detector has dark count rate below 1 Hz, 
diameter photosensitive area, photon detection efficiency around 50%, afterpulsing less than 0.35%, and timing jitter under 1 ns. These characteristics make it suitable for long-distance free-space quantum communication links, which we briefly discuss. We also report an improved method that we call long-time afterpulsing analysis, used to determine and visualise long trap lifetimes at different temperatures.
© The Author(s) 2021
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