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arXiv:1908.06205 · Applied Optics

Multimode-fiber-coupled superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors with high detection efficiency and time resolution

Jin Chang, Iman Esmaeil Zadeh, Johannes W. N. Los, Julien Zichi, Andreas Fognini, Monique Gevers, Sander N. Dorenbos, Silvania F. Pereira, Hendrik Paul Urbach, Val Zwiller

Published Dec 10, 2019• 34 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In the past decade, superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) have gradually become an indispensable part of any demanding quantum optics experiment. Until now, most SNSPDs have been coupled to single-mode fibers. SNSPDs coupled to multimode fibers have shown promising efficiencies but have yet to achieve high time resolution. For a number of applications ranging from quantum nano-photonics to bio-optics, high efficiency and high time resolution are desired at the same time. In this paper, we demonstrate the role of polarization on the efficiency of multimode-fiber-coupled detectors and fabricated high-performance 20 µm, 25 µm, and 50 µm diameter detectors targeted for visible, near-infrared, and telecom wavelengths. A custom-built setup was used to simulate realistic experiments with randomized modes in the fiber. We achieved over 80% system efficiency and $ {\lt} {20}\;{\rm ps}$<20ps timing jitter for 20 µm SNSPDs. Also, we realized 70% system efficiency and $ {\lt} {20}\;{\rm ps}$<20ps timing jitter for 50 µm SNSPDs. The high-efficiency multimode-fiber-coupled SNSPDs with unparalleled time resolution will benefit various quantum optics experiments and applications in the future.

DOI
10.1364/ao.58.009803

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In the past decade, superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) have gradually become an indispensable part of any demanding quantum optics experiment. Until now, most SNSPDs have been coupled to single-mode fibers. SNSPDs coupled to multimode fibers have shown promising efficiencies but have yet to achieve high time resolution. For a number of applications ranging from quantum nano-photonics to bio-optics, high efficiency and high time resolution are desired at the same time. In this paper, we demonstrate the role of polarization on the efficiency of multimode-fiber-coupled detectors and fabricated high-performance 20 µm, 25 µm, and 50 µm diameter detectors targeted for visible, near-infrared, and telecom wavelengths. A custom-built setup was used to simulate realistic experiments with randomized modes in the fiber. We achieved over 80% system efficiency and <20  ps {\lt} {20}\;{\rm ps}<20ps<20ps timing jitter for 20 µm SNSPDs. Also, we realized 70% system efficiency and <20  ps {\lt} {20}\;{\rm ps}<20ps<20ps timing jitter for 50 µm SNSPDs. The high-efficiency multimode-fiber-coupled SNSPDs with unparalleled time resolution will benefit various quantum optics experiments and applications in the future.
Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) have demonstrated advantages over traditional detectors in many fields [1]. Most fiber-coupled SNSPDs are coupled to single mode fibers, limiting their usability for applications where large surface area detectors are needed, for example fluorescence detection and satellite-based quantum communication [2][3]. Other important requirements for many applications are broadband detection efficiency, and low timing jitter [4]. So far, the increased meander length of multimode detectors, and the therefore increased kinetic inductance and number of imperfections due to film inhomogeneities have limited the timing jitter [5]. Moreover, combining low timing jitter with high detection efficiency and low dark count rate in one device is challenging due to the tradeoffs between different properties of SNSPDs [6]. In this paper, we achieved high efficiency and strong saturation over a broad wavelength range with a low timing jitter of 16.99 ps while maintaining a low dark count rate of < 0.2 Hz for an SNSPD coupled to a 50 µm core multimode fiber. To enhance the broadband absorption from 405 nm to 830 nm, detectors were fabricated on an optimized SiO2 cavity and Aluminum mirror. The geometry of the nanowire was also tuned to reach a good internal saturation of efficiency over the visible/NIR range but also to carry high current to get a large signal. Furthermore, a cryogenic readout amplifier was optimized to improve the signal to noise ratio and thus lead to high time resolution. Our devices can be readily used to enable higher resolution and faster quantum optics, bio-imaging, laser ranging and other optical experiments.
We report the development of the multimode fiber-coupled superconducting nanowire single-photon detector with high system detection efficiency at visible wavelength. The detector consists of a 10.5-nm-thick and 150-nm-wide NbN nanowire meander fabricated on a Si substrate with a multilayer dielectric mirror and a quarter wavelength cavity for obtaining high optical absorptance. The meander area was 35 µm in diameter and coupled with the GRIN-lensed multimode optical fiber with a core diameter of 50 µm. The system reached detection efficiency of 70% with dark count rate of 100 Hz at the wavelength of 635 nm, 3 dB roll-off response counting rate of 8.5 Mcps, and timing jitter of 76 ps.
High-performance superconductor nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) coupled by 50-μm multimode fiber were designed and fabricated for the purpose of space applications. Microlens coupling between multimode fiber and detector chip was proposed, resulting in coupling efficiency of 86% at the chips with detection area of 15 x 15 μm2. An optical structure for enhancing the photons absorption and superconductor nanowires with low critical current of 3 μA were fabricated on the chips. A cryogenic amplifier was adopted to increase the signal-to-noise ratio and time jitter of output pulse. The SNSPD exhibited system efficiency (1550 nm) of 56% at a dark count rate of 100 cps, 50% at a dark count rate of 5 cps, and 40% at a dark count rate of 1 cps. The time jitter was 46 ps at full-width at half-maximum. The multimode fiber coupling system with high performance will promote its applications in free space.
Ever since superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs or SSPDs) were demonstrated, they have attracted a considerable attention due to the detectors’ promising performance that includes high detection efficiency (DE), low dark count rate (DCR), broadband sensitivity, and low timing jitter. The system detection efficiency (SDE) has been improved to be over 90% with a wavelength of 1550 nm in a fiber-coupled system by embedding the SNSPD in optical cavities. However, the implementation of optical cavity usually reduces the bandwidth of SNSPDs. As a result, there are some recent works on increasing the bandwidth of SNSPD. Furthermore, the size of the active area of meandered nanowires has to be compatible with the core size of an optical fiber such that good optical coupling can be achieved; this setup requires a long nanowire with a large kinetic inductance, thus resulting in a small counting rate and a large timing jitter, particularly for multi-mode fiber-coupled devices. Nevertheless, a particularly impressive waveguide-coupled SNSPD has been developed in recent years. By placing an SNSPD atop an optical waveguide that has been fabricated on various substrate materials, photons propagating in the waveguide have been found to be evanescently absorbed by nanowires that are only a few tens of microns long. The on-chip DE of this device has been estimated to be over 90%, thus indicating that it has both high absorptance and high intrinsic DE. If the waveguide and the nanowire are correctly dimensioned, the absorptance of this device can reach over 90% for a wavelength range of more than 700 nm. Furthermore, the length of the nanowire is shorter than that of the fiber-coupled SNSPD, thus leading to a higher count rate and lower timing jitter (~18 ps). However, unsatisfactory coupling losses between the optical fiber and the waveguide in such devices can decrease its SDE (~10%), thus limiting its applicability to quantum photonic integrated circuits (QPIC). Recently, we proposed a type of SNSPD that was coupled with microfibers (MFs), and simulations for this SNSPD indicated that its absorption would be as high as 90%. Microfibers and nanofibers, tapered adiabatically from standard fibers, with diameters close to or smaller than the wavelength of the guided light were demonstrated to have low transmittance losses by Tong et al. in 2003. MFs have been shown to have many interesting properties, such as strong evanescent fields, tight optical confinement, wideband abilities, and small masses; these properties are appealing for applications such as optical sensing and coupling. MFs also provide seamless connections with high transmittance from standard fibers; therefore, MF-coupled SNSPDs can achieve both high SDEs and wideband compatibility. We proposed and demonstrated the MF-coupled SNSPDs successfully. The simulation results indicate that with optimal device structure, the optical absorption with efficiency < 90% can be realized over a wavelength range of 350 nm to 2150 nm. The fabricated MF-coupled SNSPD, shows unparalleled broadband system detection efficiencies (SDEs) of more than 50% from 630 nm to 1500 nm. The SDEs reach 66% at 785 nm and 45% at 1550 nm. These results pave the way for ultra-broadband weak light detection with quantum-limit sensitivity.
We present an 8 × 8 superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) array that addresses the trade-off between detection efficiency and count rates in large-area devices.The SNSPD array employs a distributed nanowire architecture and a polarization-insensitive optical cavity, when coupled with a 105-μm multimode fiber, achieves a system detection efficiency of 75% at 1064 nm with a count rate of 945 MHz at 3 dB compression and an average timing jitter of <100 ps.This design offers a scalable solution for high-speed photon counting with large-area detection and multimode compatibility.