Mitigating radiation damage of single photon detectors for space applications
Abstract Single-photon detectors in space must retain useful performance characteristics despite being bombarded with sub-atomic particles. Mitigating the effects of this space radiation is vital to enabling new space applications which require high-fidelity single-photon detection. To this end, we...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2017-05-01
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| Series: | EPJ Quantum Technology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjqt/s40507-017-0062-z |
| _version_ | 1818232143225028608 |
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| author | Elena Anisimova Brendon L Higgins Jean-Philippe Bourgoin Miles Cranmer Eric Choi Danya Hudson Louis P Piche Alan Scott Vadim Makarov Thomas Jennewein |
| author_facet | Elena Anisimova Brendon L Higgins Jean-Philippe Bourgoin Miles Cranmer Eric Choi Danya Hudson Louis P Piche Alan Scott Vadim Makarov Thomas Jennewein |
| author_sort | Elena Anisimova |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Single-photon detectors in space must retain useful performance characteristics despite being bombarded with sub-atomic particles. Mitigating the effects of this space radiation is vital to enabling new space applications which require high-fidelity single-photon detection. To this end, we conducted proton radiation tests of various models of avalanche photodiodes (APDs) and one model of photomultiplier tube potentially suitable for satellite-based quantum communications. The samples were irradiated with 106 MeV protons at doses approximately equivalent to lifetimes of 0.6 , 6, 12 and 24 months in a low-Earth polar orbit. Although most detection properties were preserved, including efficiency, timing jitter and afterpulsing probability, all APD samples demonstrated significant increases in dark count rate (DCR) due to radiation-induced damage, many orders of magnitude higher than the 200 counts per second (cps) required for ground-to-satellite quantum communications. We then successfully demonstrated the mitigation of this DCR degradation through the use of deep cooling, to as low as − 86 ∘ C $-86^{\circ}\mbox{C}$ . This achieved DCR below the required 200 cps over the 24 months orbit duration. DCR was further reduced by thermal annealing at temperatures of +50 to + 100 ∘ C $+100^{\circ}\mbox{C}$ . |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T11:01:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-343c927fa15d4412ab574f6a48967a2a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2196-0763 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T11:01:36Z |
| publishDate | 2017-05-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | EPJ Quantum Technology |
| spelling | doaj.art-343c927fa15d4412ab574f6a48967a2a2022-12-22T00:26:31ZengSpringerOpenEPJ Quantum Technology2196-07632017-05-014111410.1140/epjqt/s40507-017-0062-zMitigating radiation damage of single photon detectors for space applicationsElena Anisimova0Brendon L Higgins1Jean-Philippe Bourgoin2Miles Cranmer3Eric Choi4Danya Hudson5Louis P Piche6Alan Scott7Vadim Makarov8Thomas Jennewein9Institute for Quantum Computing, University of WaterlooInstitute for Quantum Computing, University of WaterlooInstitute for Quantum Computing, University of WaterlooInstitute for Quantum Computing, University of WaterlooInstitute for Quantum Computing, University of WaterlooHoneywell Aerospace (formerly COM DEV Ltd.)Honeywell Aerospace (formerly COM DEV Ltd.)Honeywell Aerospace (formerly COM DEV Ltd.)Institute for Quantum Computing, University of WaterlooInstitute for Quantum Computing, University of WaterlooAbstract Single-photon detectors in space must retain useful performance characteristics despite being bombarded with sub-atomic particles. Mitigating the effects of this space radiation is vital to enabling new space applications which require high-fidelity single-photon detection. To this end, we conducted proton radiation tests of various models of avalanche photodiodes (APDs) and one model of photomultiplier tube potentially suitable for satellite-based quantum communications. The samples were irradiated with 106 MeV protons at doses approximately equivalent to lifetimes of 0.6 , 6, 12 and 24 months in a low-Earth polar orbit. Although most detection properties were preserved, including efficiency, timing jitter and afterpulsing probability, all APD samples demonstrated significant increases in dark count rate (DCR) due to radiation-induced damage, many orders of magnitude higher than the 200 counts per second (cps) required for ground-to-satellite quantum communications. We then successfully demonstrated the mitigation of this DCR degradation through the use of deep cooling, to as low as − 86 ∘ C $-86^{\circ}\mbox{C}$ . This achieved DCR below the required 200 cps over the 24 months orbit duration. DCR was further reduced by thermal annealing at temperatures of +50 to + 100 ∘ C $+100^{\circ}\mbox{C}$ .http://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjqt/s40507-017-0062-zquantum communicationsatelliteradiation testsingle-photon detector |
| spellingShingle | Elena Anisimova Brendon L Higgins Jean-Philippe Bourgoin Miles Cranmer Eric Choi Danya Hudson Louis P Piche Alan Scott Vadim Makarov Thomas Jennewein Mitigating radiation damage of single photon detectors for space applications EPJ Quantum Technology quantum communication satellite radiation test single-photon detector |
| title | Mitigating radiation damage of single photon detectors for space applications |
| title_full | Mitigating radiation damage of single photon detectors for space applications |
| title_fullStr | Mitigating radiation damage of single photon detectors for space applications |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mitigating radiation damage of single photon detectors for space applications |
| title_short | Mitigating radiation damage of single photon detectors for space applications |
| title_sort | mitigating radiation damage of single photon detectors for space applications |
| topic | quantum communication satellite radiation test single-photon detector |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjqt/s40507-017-0062-z |
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