Single photon avalanches diodes

Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione, e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy

^* angelo.gulinatti@polimi.it

Abstract

Twenty years ago the detection of single photons was little more than a scientific curiosity reserved to a few specialists. Today it is a flourishing field with an ecosystem that extends from university laboratories to large semiconductor manufacturers. This change of paradigm has been stimulated by the emergence of critical applications that rely on single photon detection, and by technical progresses in the detector field. The single photon avalanche diode has unquestionably played a major role in this process.