title: Multipixel silicon avalanche photodiode with ultralow dark count rate at liquid nitrogen temperature.
abstract: Multipixel silicon avalanche photodiodes (Si APDs) are novel photodetectors used as silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs), or multipixel photon counter (MPPC), because they have fast response, photon-number resolution, and a high count rate; one drawback, however, is the high dark count rate. We developed a system for cooling an MPPC to liquid nitrogen temperature and thus reduce the dark count rate. Our system achieved dark count rates of <0.2 cps. Here we present the afterpulse probability, counting capability, timing jitter, and photon-number resolution of our system at 78.5 K and 295 K.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, 4-2-1, Nukuikitamachi, Koganei-city, Tokyo 184-8795, Japan. akiba@nict.go.jp
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akiba
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsujino
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sasaki