A Measurement Setup for the Characterization of SPAD timing jitter

Abstract—Timing jitter is one of the most important characteristics of single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs), especially in applications requiring accurate photon timing, such as timecorrelated single photon counting (TCSPC) or LiDAR. In this article, we describe a measurement setup for the characterization of the timing jitter of actively-quenched SPADs using the TCSPC technique with a picosecond laser. By also describing the typical mistakes and potential pitfalls with such a setup, we aim to give a useful guideline on reproducing a setup with well-defined measurement uncertainty, in order to achieve comparable results
between devices of different manufacturers, both academic and commercial. In addition, we describe the physical cause of the jitter in SPADs to aid designers in the design of a new generation of low-jitter SPAD devices.