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Italian National Conference on Photonic Technologies (Fotonica)

A scalable photon number resolving detector

F. Mattioli, Alessandro Gaggero, Roberto Leoni, Zili Zhou, S. Jahanmirinejad, Dondu Sahin, G. Frucci, Andrea Fiore

Published May 1, 2014• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A novel photon-number-resolving detector (PNRD) structure, based on an array of nanowire superconducting single photon detectors (SSPDs) connected in series, have recently been proposed. With this configuration, it is possible to scale to large photon numbers. In this framework, PNRDs capable of resolving up to four, eight and twelve photons at telecommunication wavelengths have been fabricated and tested. The photon-induced voltage signals from all the series elements are summed up into a single readout pulse with a height proportional to the detected photon number. Analysis of the linearity shows the potential of scaling to an even larger dynamic range.

DOI
10.1109/fotonica.2014.6843849

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A novel photon-number-resolving detector (PNRD) structure, based on an array of nanowire superconducting single photon detectors (SSPDs) connected in series, have recently been proposed. With this configuration, it is possible to scale to large photon numbers. In this framework, PNRDs capable of resolving up to four, eight and twelve photons at telecommunication wavelengths have been fabricated and tested. The photon-induced voltage signals from all the series elements are summed up into a single readout pulse with a height proportional to the detected photon number. Analysis of the linearity shows the potential of scaling to an even larger dynamic range.
We present the experimental demonstration of a superconducting photon number resolving detector. It is based on the series connection of N superconducting nanowires, each connected in parallel to an integrated resistor. The device provides a single voltage readout, proportional to the number of photons absorbed in distinct nanowires. Clearly separated output levels corresponding to the detection of n=1-4 photons are observed in a 4-element detector fabricated from an NbN film on GaAs substrate, with a single-photon system quantum efficiency of 2.6% at the wavelength of 1300nm. The series-nanowire structure is promising in view of its scalability to large photon numbers and high efficiencies.
We demonstrate a superconducting photon-number-resolving detector capable of resolving up to twelve photons at telecommunication wavelengths. It is based on a series array of twelve superconducting NbN nanowire elements, each connected in parallel with an integrated resistor. The photon-induced voltage signals from the twelve elements are summed up into a single readout pulse with a height proportional to the detected photon number. Thirteen distinct output levels corresponding to the detection of n = 0-12 photons are observed experimentally. A detailed analysis of the linearity and of the excess noise shows the potential of scaling to an even larger dynamic range.
We propose a novel photon number resolving detector structure with large dynamic range. It consists of the series connection of N superconducting nanowires, each connected in parallel to an integrated resistor. Photon absorption in a wire switches its current to the parallel resistor producing a voltage pulse and the sum of these voltages is measured at the output. The combination of this structure and a high input impedance preamplifier result in linear, high fidelity, and fast photon detection in the range from one to several tens of photons.
Photon-number-resolving detectors (PNRDs) play pivotal roles in many quantum-photonic applications; and intrinsic and multiplexed PNRDs have been reported previously. However, for intrinsic PNRDs, the maximum resolvable photon number is limited to a few photons; for the multiplexed PNRDs, the fidelity generally decreases when the to-be-resolved photon number becomes large. Here, to resolve more photons with high fidelity, we report on combined PNRDs, based on a spatial multiplexing configuration of multiple elements, each capable of resolving a few photons. After setting up a model and calculating the fidelity, we propose a possible physical system to realize the combined PNRDs. The proposed detectors are based on the superconducting nanowire multiphoton detectors integrated with current reservoirs that we recently reported, but are designed and configured into PNRDs. Specifically, information about the detected photon numbers is stored in the format of the supercurrent in the current reservoir and then readout by an integrated yTron. We present in detail the operating principle and show a design that can resolve up to 11 photons with high fidelity.
The experimental demonstration of a superconducting photon-number-resolving detector, based on the series connection of N superconducting nanowires, is presented. An integrated resistor is connected in parallel to each section of the device that provides in this way a single voltage-readout, proportional to the number of photons detected in distinct nanowires. As a proof of principle a four element detector has been fabricated from an NbN film on a GaAs substrate and fully characterized. Clearly separated output levels corresponding to the detection of n = 1 – 4 photons are observed achieving a single-photon system quantum efficiency of 2.6% at λ=1.3 μm. In order to demonstrate the potential scalability of the series-nanowire detector to a larger number of photons, we report our preliminary results in the characterization of detectors fabricated with 8 and 12 pixels. Clear evidence of n= 1-8 photon absorption in the 8-pixel detector has been achieved.
Standard linear optical detectors have a maximum sensitivity in the few hundreds of photons range, limited by amplifier noise. On the other hand, single photon detectors, which are the most sensitive detectors, are strongly nonlinear: One or more photons result in the same output signal. Photon number resolving (PNR) detectors, which have the ability to discriminate the number of photons in a weak optical pulse, are of great importance in the field of quantum information processing and quantum cryptography. Moreover, a PNR detector with large dynamic range can cover the gap between these two detection modes. Such detectors are greatly desirable not only in quantum information science and technology, but also in any application dealing with low light levels. In this work, we propose a novel approach to photon number resolving detectors based on spatial multiplexing of nanowire superconducting single-photon detectors. In the proposed approach, N superconducting nanowires, each connected in parallel to an integrated resistor, are connected in series. Photon absorption in a nanowire switches its bias current to the parallel resistor, forming a voltage pulse across it. The sum of these voltages, proportional to the number of absorbed photons, is measured at the output. The use of a cryogenic preamplifier with high input impedance for the read-out increases the linearity, the signal to noise ratio, and the speed. With this combination, we expect to be able to count up to few tens of photons with high fidelity, excellent timing resolution, and very high sensitivity in the telecommunication wavelength range.