硅基高灵敏度近红外单光子dTOF探测器

基于0.18μm BCD工艺实现了一种高灵敏度、低暗计数噪声的近红外单光子直接飞行时间（dTOF）探测器。集成的单光子雪崩二极管（SPAD）探测器件采用新型的高压p阱/n+埋层作为深结雪崩倍增区的结构，显著提高了对近红外光子的探测概率；采用低掺杂的外延层作为虚拟保护环，有效减小了器件暗计数噪声。dTOF探测器读出电路采用三步式混合结构的时间数字转换器（TDC），获得了高时间分辨率和大动态范围。测试结果表明，SPAD器件在5 V过偏压下的光子探测概率（PDP）峰值达到45%，在905 nm近红外波长处的PDP大于7.6%，暗计数率（DCR）小于200 Hz。读出电路实现了130 ps的高时间分辨率和258 ns的动态范围，差分非线性度（DNL）和积分非线性度（INL）均小于±1 LSB(1 LSB=130 ps)。该dTOF探测器具有人眼安全阈值高、灵敏度高、噪声低和线性度好的优点，可应用于低成本、高精度的激光雷达测距系统。     

超导纳米线单光子探测系统的时间抖动

超导纳米线单光子探测(SNSPD)器件具有较低的时间抖动特性,可以实现低误码率的QKD和高精度的激光测距。文中对超导纳米线单光子探测系统的时间抖动进行了详细的分析和测量,分析了SNSPD系统各部分对系统抖动的贡献。使用时间相关的单光子计数技术(TCSPC)和示波器的抖动分析软件,分别测量了SNSPD系统的时间抖动,比较了两种方法的优劣。在两种测量方法下,系统总的时间抖动分别约为42ps和31ps,计算后得到单光子探测器件的抖动约为25ps。发现放大器的性能对系统时间抖动影响明显。通过使用不同放大器比较分析了测量得到的时间抖动。     

超导转变边沿单光子探测器原理与研究进展

量子信息技术近十多年来的快速发展对单光子探测器的性能提出了更高的要求,高性能单光子探测器也因此受到了更多的关注.与传统的单光子探测器相比,超导转变边沿(TES)单光子探测器在探测效率、能量分辨、光子数分辨和暗计数等方面具有突出优势.目前,超导TES单光子探测器已经被成功地应用在量子光学实验和量子密钥分配系统中,未来在量子信息技术等研究领域具有更广泛的应用.本文从超导TES单光子探测器的工作原理、制备流程、测试系统、主要性能指标以及研究现状和进展等方面对该探测器技术进行简要综述.     

皮秒时间相关单光子计数光谱仪的核心技术

研制的皮秒时间相关单光子计数光谱仪利用时间相关单光子计数(TCSPC)技术,采用了具有分光时间弥散动态和静态补偿特性的光栅分光系统,解决了传统分光系统的光信号时间弥散问题;使用多道谱分析仪开设时间窗口,测量荧光衰减曲线和时间分辨光谱;用荧光衰减曲线的多指数拟合方法处理数据。给出了光谱仪的原理和总体方案,介绍了系统的集成和工作流程。通过各种标准样品的试验数据分析和对比,得出系统所测荧光寿命可达到ps量级,而且具有最高的灵敏度——单光子计数,时间分辨率达到8．8ps。     

基于SiPM读出的塑料闪烁体探测器时间性能研究

研究了基于硅光电倍增管(SiPM)双端读出的面积为10 cm ×10 cm的薄塑料闪烁体探测器的时间性能。239Pu放射源测试结果显示:(1)在多支SiPM串连读出方式下,随着SiPM数量的增加,探测器时间分辨逐渐变好;(2)在固定12支SiPM数量不变的情况下,并联支路越多,探测器时间分辨越差;(3)采用快时间塑料闪烁体并增加其厚度,可有效提高探测器时间分辨;(4)采用比束斑尺寸更大的塑料闪烁体,可有效提高探测器时间分辨的位置均匀性;(5)对于1 mm厚的EJ232塑料闪烁体探测器,在单端12支SiPM串行连接的情况下,可获得好于131 ps的时间分辨。这一研究对RIBLL2起始时间探测器的升级改造具有重要的指导意义。     

基于单光子雪崩二极管阵列的成像技术研究进展（特邀）

单光子雪崩二极管以其极高的光子灵敏度以及超快的响应时间在各领域被广泛应用。随着半导体技术的发展,集成多个像素以及时间测量电路的单光子雪崩二极管阵列逐渐普及。成像是一种以光子作为媒介获取目标物体信息的手段,基于单光子雪崩二极管的成像系统可以利用更丰富的光子计数以及光子时间信息实现极端环境下的目标探测。单光子雪崩二极管阵列具备并行采集光子信息的能力,进一步提高了光子信息的探测效率,能够替代传统单光子成像中单点探测器加扫描结构的探测体系,推动生物显微成像、散射成像以及非视域成像等技术的进步。本文梳理了单光子雪崩二极管阵列的发展历程以及技术趋势,按照是否需要光子时间信息分类介绍了单光子雪崩二极管阵列在成像方面的典型应用,结合应用分析了单光子雪崩二极管阵列相比于其他探测器的优势,对单光子雪崩二极管阵列的应用前景进行了展望。     

门控下InGaAs/InP单光子探测器用于符合测量的时域滤波特性研究

基于砷化镓/磷化铟雪崩光电二极管(InGaAs/InP APD)的半导体单光子探测器因工作在通信波段,且具有体积小、成本低、操作方便等优势,在实用化量子通信技术中发挥了重要作用.为尽可能避免暗计数和后脉冲对单光子探测的影响,InGaAs/InP单光子探测器广泛采用门控技术来快速触发和淬灭雪崩效应,有效门宽通常在纳秒量级.本文研究揭示了门控下单光子探测器可测量的最大符合时间宽度受限于门控脉冲的宽度,理论分析与实验结果良好拟合.该研究表明,门控下InGaAs/InP单光子探测器用于双光子符合测量具有显著的时域滤波特性,限制了其在基于双光子时间关联测量的量子信息技术中的应用.     

基于时间相关单光子计数的荧光寿命成像技术

采用时域法中的时间相关单光子计数方法记录荧光寿命,时间相关单光子计数采用多波长通道同时记录荧光光子数,可以提高计数效率和信息量,还可以在稳态图像中分离不同荧光团,形成4维图像。并采用多光子激发技术,利用长波长光源发出的两个或多个光子可以激发出一个短波长的光子。多个光子必须几乎同时到达激发点,才能提供被激发分子足够的能量以产生荧光。多光子激发波长较长,生物组织对其散射减小,因而可以穿透到更深层的组织,从而提高荧光成像深度和空间分辨力,并减少对活体样品的损伤。     

时间相关单光子计数光谱仪的优化

分析了原有时间相关单光子计数光谱仪存在的不足,提出了改进方案。研制了高速数据采集系统,采用PCI总线技术、FPGA技术,开发了高速光谱数据采集卡,取代了原有的多道分析仪,数据采集速度达到20 MB/s,比原有仪器提高了约200倍;改善了仪器的性能、减小了体积。介绍了光谱仪系统的集成和工作流程,并对仪器的性能进行分析,通过多种标准样品的试验数据分析和对比,光谱仪系统具有最高的灵敏度-单光子计数,测得荧光寿命可达到ps量级,而且可以测得时间分辨光谱。     

超导单光子探测技术

单光子探测是弱光测量技术的核心,在量子信息、物理、生物、化学和天文学领域具有关键性的作用。传统以光电倍增管或雪崩二极管为基础的单光子探测器的低灵敏度和高暗计数限制了信噪比的提高,低计数率限制了测量速度和动态范围。本文综述了以超导材料作为光敏感器件的单光子探测技术,其量子效率、暗计数率和计数率远高于传统的单光子探测器,它们的出现势必给单光子测量相关学科带来巨大影响。     

Preliminary results for the design,fabrication,and performance of a backside-illuminated avalanche drift detector

The detection of low-level light is a key technology in various experimental scientific studies. As a photon detector, the silicon photomultiplier （SiPM） has gradually become an alternative to the photomultiplier tube （PMT） in many applications in high-energy physics, astroparticle physics, and medical imaging because of its high photon detection efficiency （PDE）, good resolution for single-photon detection, insensitivity to magnetic field, low operating voltage, compactness, and low cost. However, primarily because of the geometric fill factor, the PDE of most SiPMs is not very high; in particular, for those SiPMs with a high density of micro cells, the effective area is small, and the bandwidth of the light response is narrow. As a building block of the SiPM, the concept of the backside-illuminated avalanche drift detector （ADD） was first proposed by the Max Planck Institute of Germany eight years ago; the ADD is promising to have high PDE over the full energy range of optical photons, even ultraviolet light and X-ray light, and because the avalanche multiplication region is very small, the ADD is beneficial for the fabrication of large-area SiPMs. However, because of difficulties in design and fabrication, no significant progress had been made, and the concept had not yet been verified. In this paper, preliminary results in the design, fabrication, and performance of a backside-illuminated ADD are reported; the difficulties in and limitations to the backside-illuminated ADD are analyzed.     

Single-Photon Counting Multicolor Multiphoton Fluorescence Microscope

We present a multicolor multiphoton fluorescence microscope with single-photon counting sensitivity. The system integrates a standard multiphoton fluorescence microscope, an optical grating spectrograph operating in the UV–Vis wavelength region, and a 16-anode photomultiplier tube (PMT). The major technical innovation is in the development of a multichannel photon counting card (mC-PhCC) for direct signal collection from multi-anode PMTs. The electronic design of the mC-PhCC employs a high-throughput, fully-parallel, single-photon counting scheme along with a high-speed electrical or fiber-optical link interface to the data acquisition computer. There is no electronic crosstalk among the detection channels of the mC-PhCC. The collected signal remains linear up to an incident photon rate of 10⁸ counts per second. The high-speed data interface offers ample bandwidth for real-time readout: 2 MByte -stacks composed of 16 spectral channels, 256× 256 pixel image with 12-bit dynamic range can be transferred at 30 frames per second. The modular design of the mC-PhCC can be readily extended to accommodate PMTs of more anodes. Data acquisition from a 64-anode PMT has been verified. As a demonstration of system performance, spectrally resolved images of fluorescent latex spheres and ex-vivo human skin are reported. The multicolor multiphoton microscope is suitable for highly sensitive, real-time, spectrally-resolved three-dimensional imaging in biomedical applications.     

液体中R6G和R110分子的高灵敏探测

本介绍用单分子探测技术对液体中的染料分子Ｒ６Ｇ和Ｒ１１０进行高灵敏探测。以３σ为标准，达到的检测限分别为３．８×１０６－１４ｍｏｌ＝Ｌ（Ｒ６Ｇ）和１×１０＾－１３ｍｏｌ／Ｌ（Ｒ１１０），灵敏区内染料分子的平均数目〈１。     

基于时间相关单光子计数技术的密码芯片光辐射分析

密码芯片运行时的光辐射可泄露其操作和数据的重要特征信息. 基于单光子探测技术, 设计并构建了针对CMOS半导体集成电路芯片光辐射信号的采集、传输、处理和分析的光电实验系统. 以AT89C52单片机作为实验对象, 采用时间相关单光子计数技术, 对不同工作电压下密码芯片的光辐射强度进行了对比, 分析了芯片指令级光辐射信息的操作依赖性和数据依赖性. 此外, 使用示波器对时间相关单光子计数技术在芯片光辐射分析上的可行性进行了验证. 实验结果表明, 采用时间相关单光子计数技术对密码芯片进行光辐射分析, 是一种直接有效的中低等代价光旁路分析攻击手段, 对密码芯片的安全构成了严重的现实威胁.     

基于回波信号仿真的瑞利-喇曼-米激光雷达研制

 在分析瑞利、喇曼和米散射仿真回波信号的基础上,研制了一台探测大气温度、气溶胶和卷云的瑞利-喇曼-米散射激光雷达,实现了一台激光雷达针对大气温度、气溶胶和卷云光学特性的多参数探测。为提高瑞利和喇曼微弱回波信号信噪比,采用了极高灵敏度的R4632光电倍增管和光子计数技术;为实现对大气气溶胶和卷云的探测,532 nm回波信号采取高低分层技术、高层通道回波衰减方法和探测器门控技术。瑞利-喇曼-米散射激光雷达的探测结果证明了利用仿真回波信号指导激光雷达设计的可行性。     

A simple method for afterpulse probability measurement in high-speed single-photon detectors

A simple statistical method is proposed for afterpulse probability measurement in high-speed single-photon detectors. The method is based on in-laser-period counting without the support of time-correlated information or delay adjustment, and is readily implemented with commercially available logic devices. We present comparisons among the proposed method and commonly used methods which use the time-correlated single-photon counter or the gated counter, based on a 1.25-GHz gated infrared single-photon detector. Results show that this in-laser-period counting method has similar accuracy to the commonly used methods with extra simplicity, robustness, and faster measuring speed.     

Laser depth measurement based on time-correlated single-photon counting

A method for acquiring range data based on time-correlated single-photon counting is described. This method uses a short-pulse ( approximately 10-ps) laser diode, a detector based on a silicon single-photon avalanche diode, and standard photon-counting timing electronics. The accuracy of the technique has been measured as approximately +/-30 microm in a laboratory experiment and corresponds closely to the results of a theoretical simulation.     

利用自发布里渊散射测量液体声速

为了克服共振干涉法在液体的热力学声速和高频声速测量方面精度不高的问题, 本文建立了一种基于自发布里渊散射原理的测定液体声速的实验装置. 利用法布里-珀罗干涉仪对散射光进行扫描滤波, 数据采集卡结合光子计数器对散射光进行探测, 设计了一种散射光信息采集分析方法. 该实验方法有效的解决了传统布里渊散射方法中信号失真的问题, 显著地提升了液体声速测量精度. 对308.6–906.2 MHz内298.15 K饱和液相CCl₄声速进行了测量, 测量结果与文献值具有较好一致性. 利用法布里-珀罗干涉仪周期性扫描的滤波原理, 通过在测量得到的布里渊频移上加减整数倍个自由波谱区, 得到了更大频率的波谱信息, 进而设计一种测定介质高频声速的方法. 对CCl₄在5406.1–5521.0 MHz频段内的声速进行了测量. 实验结果显示, CCl₄的热力学声速随频率无明显变化, 而高频声速随频率的增大呈增大趋势且远大于热力学声速, 证实CCl₄具有色散现象.     

新型门控光子计数法测量高散射介质的光学参量

讨论了一种新型而且简单的门控光子计数法，用来测量高散射介质的光学参量。当一束光脉冲入射到高散射介质后，该方法可以恢复出光脉冲经过散射后从介质表面逸出的波形。与传统的门控光子计数法相比，该方法利用计数器控制门可以移动的特点，通过滑动宽度为60ns的控制门实现较高的时间分辨力200ps。在此波形的基础上，Patterson—Chance方法可以快速而且准确计算出被测介质的光学参量。在模型介质上的实验，验证了该方法的可行性，实验结果与复杂的时间相关的单光子计数加曲线拟合方法相比较，误差小于10％。     

VCSEL-based oxygen spectroscopy for structural analysis of pharmaceutical solids

We present a minimalistic and flexible single-beam instrumentation based on sensitive tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) and its use in structural analysis of highly scattering pharmaceutical solids. By utilising a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) for sensing of molecular oxygen dispersed in tablets, we address structural properties such as porosity. Experiments involve working with unknown path lengths, severe backscattering and diffuse light. These unusual experimental conditions has led to the use of the term gas in scattering media absorption spectroscopy (GASMAS). By employing fully digital wavelength modulation spectroscopy and coherent sampling, system sensitivity in ambient air experiments reaches the 10^-7 range. Oxygen absorption exhibited by our tablets, being influenced by both sample porosity and scattering, was in the range 8×10^-5 to 2×10^-3, and corresponds to 2–50 mm of path length through ambient air (L_eq). The day-to-day reproducibility was on average 1.8% (0.3 mm L_eq), being limited by mechanical positioning. This is the first time sub-millimetre sensitivity is reached in GASMAS. We also demonstrate measurements on gas transport on a 1-s time scale. By employing pulsed illumination and time-correlated single-photon counting, we reveal that GASMAS exhibits excellent correlation with time-domain photon migration. In addition, we introduce an optical measure of porosity by relating oxygen absorption to average photon time-of-flight. Finally, the simplicity, robustness and low cost of this novel TDLAS instrumentation provide industrial potential. PACS 42.62.Fi; 39.30.+w; 78.55.Mb; 42.62.Cf; 87.64.Cc