As the requisite optical components in quantum information processing, single-photon detectors of high performance at the near-infrared wavelengths are in urgent need. In this paper, we review our recent development in high-speed single-photon detection with avalanche photodiodes, increasing the working repetition frequency up to GHz. Ingenious techniques, such as capacitance-balancing, self-differencing, low-pass filtering, and frequency up-conversion, were employed to achieve high-speed single-photon detection with high detection efficiency and low error counts, offering facility for many important applications, such as laser ranging and imaging, quantum key distribution at GHz clock rate.
Part of the book: Optoelectronics