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arXiv:1911.11941 · Optics Express

Active quenching of superconducting nanowire single photon detectors

Prasana Ravindran, Risheng Cheng, Hong X. Tang, Joseph C. Bardin

Published Jan 6, 2020• 20 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors are typically biased using a constant current source and shunted in a conductance that is over an order of magnitude larger than the peak normal domain conductance of the detector. While this design choice is required to ensure quenching of the normal domain, the use of a small load resistor limits the pulse amplitude, rising-edge slew rate, and recovery time of the detector. Here, we explore the possibility of actively quenching the normal domain, thereby removing the need to shunt the detector in a small resistance. We first consider the theoretical performance of an actively quenched superconducting nanowire single photon detector and, in comparison to a passively quenched device, we predict roughly an order of magnitude improvement in the slew rate and peak voltage achieved in this configuration. The experimental performance of actively and passively quenched superconducting nanowire single photon detectors are then compared. It is shown that, in comparison to a passively quenched device, the actively quenched detectors simultaneously exhibited improved count rates, dark count rates, and timing jitter.

DOI
10.1364/oe.383649

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cond-mat.supr-conCross-listedarXiv:2601.15971•ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam)•Jan 23, 2026•1 citation
Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors are typically biased using a constant current source and shunted in a conductance that is over an order of magnitude larger than the peak normal domain conductance of the detector. While this design choice is required to ensure quenching of the normal domain, the use of a small load resistor limits the pulse amplitude, rising-edge slew rate, and recovery time of the detector. Here, we explore the possibility of actively quenching the normal domain, thereby removing the need to shunt the detector in a small resistance. We first consider the theoretical performance of an actively quenched superconducting nanowire single photon detector and, in comparison to a passively quenched device, we predict roughly an order of magnitude improvement in the slew rate and peak voltage achieved in this configuration. The experimental performance of actively and passively quenched superconducting nanowire single photon detectors are then compared. It is shown that, in comparison to a passively quenched device, the actively quenched detectors simultaneously exhibited improved count rates, dark count rates, and timing jitter.
Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) have emerged as a leading choice for high performance single photon detectors due to their low timing jitter, high detection efficiency, and low dark count rates. SNSPDs have typically been biased using a passive quenching scheme in which the bias current of the device is shunted through a resistive load to allow for recovery after a detection event. To prevent latching, the shunting resistor must be approximately an order of magnitude smaller than the peak normal domain resistance of the SNSPD. Consequentially, the pulse amplitude (∝IBRL) and recovery time (∝LK/RL) are both negatively impacted. In this talk, we will describe a novel approach to the bias and read-out of SNSPDs based upon active quenching. We will present detailed design considerations for an active quenching architecture and will show that such an approach has the potential to improve count rates while increasing signal swings to the point where external amplification is no longer required. A silicon germanium (SiGe) active-reset chip design has been designed, implemented, and integrated with a NbTiN SNSPD. The procedure for the SiGe chip design will be described and simulation results will be presented. Finally, detailed measurement results of the complete system will be shown and compared to measurements of the same detector when biased and read-out using a standard passive quenching scheme. It will be shown that the active quenching configuration enables a considerable enhancement to the system performance.
Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors combine high detection efficiency, low noise, and excellent timing resolution, making them a leading platform for photon-counting applications. However, despite decades of materials and fabrication research, detector performance has never been shown to match theoretical performance expectations. Here, we demonstrate in situ tuning of a detector from its typical, suboptimal operation, to a regime limited only by material quality, allowing the device to reach its intrinsic performance limit. Our approach is based on current-biased superconducting “rails” placed on either side of the detector that redistribute current across its width to achieve peak performance. This technique reduces the dark count rate by 10 orders of magnitude. Further, we show operation at this intrinsic performance limit for devices up to 0.1 mm wide and also demonstrate near-unity internal detection efficiency at a wavelength of 4 µm for a 20 µm wide detector—a factor of 20 wider than the current state of the art. This work enables future detectors to overcome the Pearl limit for device width, paving the way for arbitrarily large detectors.
Single Photon Detectors are fundamental to quantum optics and quantum information. Superconducting nanowire detectors exhibit high performance in free-running mode, but have a limited maximum count rate. By exploiting a bistable superconducting nanowire system, we demonstrate the first gated-mode operation of these detectors for a large active area single element device at 625MHz, one order of magnitude faster than its free-running counterpart. We show the maximum count rate in gated-mode operation can be pushed to GHz range without a compromise on the active area or quantum efficiency, while reducing the dark count rate.
Conventional readout of a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) sets an upper bound on the output voltage to be the product of the bias current and the load impedance, IB × Zload, where Zload is limited to 50 Ω in standard r.f. electronics. Here, we break this limit by interfacing the 50 Ω load and the SNSPD using an integrated superconducting transmission line taper. The taper is a transformer that effectively loads the SNSPD with high impedance without latching. At the expense of reduced maximum counting rate, it increases the amplitude of the detector output while preserving the fast rising edge. Using a taper with a starting width of 500 nm, we experimentally observed a 3.6× higher pulse amplitude, 3.7× faster slew rate, and 25.1 ps smaller timing jitter. The results match our numerical simulation, which incorporates both the hotspot dynamics in the SNSPD and the distributed nature in the transmission line taper. The taper studied here may become a useful tool to interface high-impedance superconducting nanowire devices to conventional low-impedance circuits.
Detecting single photons is essential for applications such as dark matter detection, quantum science and technology, and biomedical imaging. Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) excel in this task due to their near-unity detection efficiency, subhertz dark count rates, and picosecond timing jitter. However, a local increase of current density (current crowding) in the bends of meander-shaped SNSPDs limits these performance metrics. By locally irradiating the SNSPD’s straight segments with helium ions while leaving the bends unirradiated, we realize current crowding–free SNSPDs with simultaneously enhanced sensitivity: After irradiation with 800 ions nm −2 , locally irradiated SNSPDs showed a relative saturation plateau width of 37%, while fully irradiated SNSPDs reached only 10%. This larger relative plateau width allows operation at lower relative bias currents, thereby reducing the dark count rate while still detecting single photons efficiently. We achieve an internal detection efficiency of 94% with 7 mHz dark count rate near the onset of saturating detection efficiency for a wavelength of 780 nm.
Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) combine high detection efficiency, low noise, and excellent timing resolution, making them a leading platform for photon-counting applications. However, despite decades of materials and fabrication research, detector performance has never been shown to match theoretical performance expectations. Here, we demonstrate for the first time in situ tuning of a detector from its typical, suboptimal operation, to a regime limited only by material quality, allowing the device to reach its intrinsic performance limit. Our approach is based on current-biased superconducting "rails" placed on either side of the detector that redistribute current across its width to achieve its peak performance. This technique reduces the dark count rate by ten orders of magnitude. Further, we show operation at this intrinsic performance limit for devices up to 0.1 mm wide, and also demonstrate near-unity internal detection efficiency (IDE) at a wavelength of 4um for a 20um-wide detector--a factor of 20 wider than the current state of the art. This work enables future detectors to overcome the Pearl limit for device width, paving the way for arbitrarily large detectors.