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arXiv:1301.3337 · Physical Review B

Universal response curve for nanowire superconducting single-photon detectors

J. J. Renema, G. Frucci, Zili Zhou, F. Mattioli, Alessandro Gaggero, Roberto Leoni, M. J. A. de Dood, Andrea Fiore, Martin P. van Exter

Published May 30, 2013• 34 citations
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Abstract

Using detector tomography, we investigate the detection mechanism in NbN-based superconducting single photon detectors (SSPDs). We demonstrate that the detection probability uniquely depends on a particular linear combination of bias current and energy, for a large variation of bias currents, input energies and detection probabilities, producing a universal detection curve. We obtain this result by studying multiphoton excitations in a nanodetector with a sparsity-based tomographic method that allows factoring out of the optical absorption. We discuss the implication of our model system for the understanding of meander-type SSPDs.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.87.174526

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We use quantum detector tomography to investigate the detection mechanism in WSi nanowire superconducting single photon detectors (SSPDs). To this purpose, we fabricated a 250nm wide and 250nm long WSi nanowire and measured its response to impinging photons with wavelengths ranging from λ\lambdaλ = 900 nm to λ\lambdaλ = 1650 nm. Tomographic measurements show that the detector response depends on the total excitation energy only. Moreover, for energies Et > 0.8eV the current energy relation is linear, similar to what was observed in NbN nanowires, whereas the current-energy relation deviates from linear behaviour for total energies below 0.8eV.
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The optical response of NbTiN superconducting single photon detectors is studied using quantum detector tomography which separates the detector response in single and multiple photon contributions. Three different NbTiN nanodetectors of 70, 100 and 150 nm width are compared based on their detector tomography curves. The energy dependent photon response for the 100 nm nanodetector at two different wavelengths is explored. The detectors present a non-linear behaviour, which complicates the comparison. For the first time, we find that tomography curves saturate above a certain bias current and we compare the current density required to achieve the single photon regime.
We use quantum detector tomography to investigate the detection mechanism in WSi nanowire superconducting single photon detectors. To this purpose, we fabricated a 250 nm wide and 250 nm long WSi nanowire and measured its response to impinging photons with wavelengths ranging from λ = 900 nm to λ = 1650 nm. Tomographic measurements show that the detector response depends on the total excitation energy only. Moreover, for total absorbed energies >0.8 eV the current–energy relation is linear, similar to what was observed in NbN nanowires, whereas the current–energy relation deviates from linear behavior for total energies below 0.8 eV.
Nanowire superconducting single photon detectors (SSPDs) consist of a thin (~ 4 to 6 nm) and narrow (~ 50 to 200 nm) superconducting wire biased close to the critical current. Operating conditions are such that the absorption of one or more photons locally transfers the detector to its normal state, which then results in a detectable electrical pulse. SSPDs are versatile detectors that operate in a wide wavelength range (from UV to mid-infrared) with almost negligible dark counts. They are typically shaped in the form of a meander to cover a sizeable fraction of a sufficiently large 2D surface, but other shapes have also been produced and are often easier to analyse. Until recently, the working principle of SSPDs was badly understood and several competing theory were formulated.
We investigate the effect of varying both incoming optical wavelength and width of NbN nanowires on the superconducting single photon detectors (SSPD) detection efficiency. The SSPD are current biased close to critical value and temperature fixed at 4.2 K, far from transition. The experimental results are found to verify with a good accuracy predictions based on the “hot spot model,” whose size scales with the absorbed photon energy. With larger optical power inducing multiphoton detection regime, the same scaling law remains valid, up to the three-photon regime. We demonstrate the validity of applying a limited number of measurements and using such a simple model to reasonably predict any SSPD behavior among a collection of nanowire device widths at different photon wavelengths. These results set the basis for designing efficient single photon detectors operating in the infrared (2–5 μm range).