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arXiv:1401.4490 · Applied Physics Letters

Superconducting nanowire single photon detector on diamond

Haig A. Atikian, Amin Eftekharian, Amir Jafari Salim, Michael J. Burek, Jennifer T. Choy, A. Hamed Majedi, Marko Lončar

Published Mar 24, 2014• 46 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors are fabricated directly on diamond substrates and their optical and electrical properties are characterized. Dark count performance and photon count rates are measured at varying temperatures for 1310 nm and 632 nm photons. A multi-step diamond surface polishing procedure is reported, involving iterative reactive ion etching and mechanical polishing to create a suitable diamond surface for the deposition and patterning of thin film superconducting layers. Using this approach, diamond substrates with less than 300 pm Root Mean Square surface roughness are obtained.

DOI
10.1063/1.4869574

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Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors are fabricated directly on diamond substrates and their optical and electrical properties are characterized. Dark count performance and photon count rates are measured at varying temperatures for 1310 nm and 632 nm photons. A multi-step diamond surface polishing procedure is reported, involving iterative reactive ion etching and mechanical polishing to create a suitable diamond surface for the deposition and patterning of thin film superconducting layers. Using this approach, diamond substrates with less than 300 pm Root Mean Square surface roughness are obtained.
Single-crystal diamond possesses exceptional physical and optical properties, rendering it an ideal platform for integrated quantum optics. The direct integration of broadband-sensitive and high-performance single-photon detectors on diamond holds significant implications for the realization of integrated diamond quantum optical circuits. In this study, we polished the diamond surface with RMS (root mean square) below 0.6 nm suitable for the deposition and patterning of NbN thin films through ion beam etching. Subsequently, we fabricated superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors directly on the polished diamond substrates and characterized for their electrical and optical properties. The NbN-SNSPD exhibited a high critical current density (2 MA cm−2), a saturated quantum efficiency (QE) below 2.5 K, and a maximum value of QE up to 88% at 4 K. These findings offer a promising solution for fully integrated quantum optical chips on single-crystal diamond substrates.
Abstract The performance of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) relies on substrate materials. Magnesium fluoride (MgF 2 ) exhibits outstanding optical properties, such as large optical transmission range and low refractive index ( n = 1.38), making it an attractive substrate. We present the fabrication and the performance of SNSPDs made of a 4.5 nm thick NbN thin film deposited on MgF 2 substrate for the wavelength of 1550 nm. The front-side illuminated SNSPDs without an optical cavity showed a maximal detection efficiency of 12.8% at a system dark count rate (DCR) of 100 Hz, while the backside illuminated SNSPDs with a SiO 2 /Au optical cavity atop displayed a maximal detection efficiency of 33% at a DCR of 100 Hz.
On-chip single photon detection is crucial for implementing on-chip quantum communication, quantum simulation, and calculation. Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) have become one of the essential techniques to achieve high-efficiency, on-chip, single-photon detection at scale due to their high detection efficiency, low dark count rate, and low jitter. Silicon carbide (SiC) has emerged as a promising integrated photonics platform due to its nonlinear optical processing capabilities, compatibility with CMOS technology, and outstanding quantum properties as a device for single photon sources. However, achieving high-efficiency superconducting nanowire single-photon detection on SiC substrates has yet to be demonstrated. In this study, we deposited polycrystalline NbN thin films onto 4H-SiC substrates. We also ensured that the deposited NbN thin film had a flat surface with a roughness less than 1 nm on the C-side 4H-SiC substrate through optimized chemical mechanical polishing. The NbN-SNSPD achieved a saturated quantum efficiency covering the color center emission bandwidth wavelength range (from 861 to 1550 nm) of the 4H-SiC material. These results offer a promising solution for high-efficiency single-photon detection on fully integrated quantum optical chips on 4H-SiC substrates.
Increasing the detection efficiency (DE) is a hot issue in the development of the superconducting nanowire single photon detector (SNSPD). In this work, a cavity-integrated structure coupled to the SNSPD is used to enhance the light absorption of nanowire. Ultra-thin Nb films are successfully prepared by magnetron sputtering, which are used to fabricate Nb/Al SNSPD with the curve of 100 nm and the square area of 4 × 4 μm 2 by sputtering and the lift-off method. To characterize the optical and electrical performance of the cavity-integrated SNSPD, a reliable cryogenic research system is built up based on a He 3 system. To satisfy the need of light coupling, a packaging structure with collimator is conducted. Both DE and the dark count rates increase with l b . It is also found that the DE of SNSPD with cavities can be up to 0.17% at the temperature of 0.7K under the infrared light of 1550 nm, which is obviously higher than that of the SNSPD directly fabricated upon silicon without any cavity structure.
We demonstrate high-performance nanowire superconducting single photon detectors (SSPDs) on bN thin films grown at a temperature compatible with monolithic integration. NbN films ranging from 150 nm to 3 nm in thickness were deposited by dc magnetron sputtering on MgO substrates at 400 degrees C SSPDs were fabricated on high quality NbN films of different thickness (7 to 3 nm) deposited under optimal conditions. Electrical and optical characterizations were performed on the SSPDs. The highest QE value measured at 4.2K is 20% at 1300 nm.
Abstract This paper describes a new approach to the fabrication of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors from ultrathin NbN films on SiO 2 substrates. The technology is based on nonlinear femtosecond optical lithography and includes direct formation of the sensitive element of the detector (the meander) through femtosecond laser exposure of the polymethyl methacrylate resist at a wavelength of 525 nm and subsequent removal of NbN using plasma-chemical etching. The nonlinear femtosecond optical lithography method allows the formation of planar structures with a spatial resolution of ~50 nm. These structures were used to fabricate single-photon superconducting detectors with quantum efficiency no worse than 8% at a wavelength of 1310 nm and dark count rate of 10 s −1 at liquid helium temperature.