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Applied Physics Letters

Spatial dependence of output pulse delay in a niobium nitride nanowire superconducting single-photon detector

John A. O’Connor, Michael G. Tanner, Chandra M. Natarajan, Gerald S. Buller, Richard John Warburton, Shigehito Miki, Z. Wang, Sae Woo Nam, Robert H. Hadfield

Published May 16, 2011• 40 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report on the position-dependent variation in output pulse timing across a superconducting single-photon detector. Our device consists of a single niobium nitride nanowire meander (100 nm width, 4 nm film thickness, 2 mm length). We use a confocal microscope configuration (full width at half maximum-spot size 1.3 μm at 1550 nm wavelength) and a femtosecond laser to study local variations in detection efficiency and output pulse timing. Pulse delays of up to 50 ps across the device correlate to local detection efficiency and resistance variations. This study indicates an underlying mechanism for timing jitter in superconducting nanowire devices.

DOI
10.1063/1.3581054

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We report on the position-dependent variation in output pulse timing across a superconducting single-photon detector. Our device consists of a single niobium nitride nanowire meander (100 nm width, 4 nm film thickness, 2 mm length). We use a confocal microscope configuration (full width at half maximum-spot size 1.3 μm at 1550 nm wavelength) and a femtosecond laser to study local variations in detection efficiency and output pulse timing. Pulse delays of up to 50 ps across the device correlate to local detection efficiency and resistance variations. This study indicates an underlying mechanism for timing jitter in superconducting nanowire devices.
We present high performance fiber-coupled niobium titanium nitride superconducting nanowire single photon detectors fabricated on thermally oxidized silicon substrates. By applying a double sided cavity structure, simulated absorptance in the nanowire meander reached 97% at 1550 nm wavelength. The fabricated device showed a system detection efficiency (DE) of 74% at 1550 nm, dark count rate of 100 c/s, and a full width at half maximum timing jitter of 68 ps under a bias current of 18.0 μA with a practical Gifford-McMahon cryocooler system.
Niobium nitride superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors were fabricated on thermally oxidized silicon substrates with large active areas of 30 μm× 30 μm.To achieve non-constricted detectors,we improved the film growth and electron beam lithography process to fabricate uniform 100-nm wide Nb N nanowires with a fill factor of 50%.The devices showed 72.4% system detection efficiency(SDE) at 100-Hz dark count rate(DCR) and 74-ps timing jitter,measured at the fiber communication wavelength of 1550 nm.The highest SDE which is 81.2% when the DCR is ～ 700 c/s appears at the wavelength of 1650 nm.
We report optical characterization of NbN nanowire superconducting single-photon detectors as a function of wavelength in the near infrared. System detection efficiency decreases from ∼6% at 1.15 µm to ∼2% at 1.72 µm, while timing jitter remains relatively constant at ∼60 ps full-width-half-maximum over the range 0.7–2.0 µm. We further demonstrate the capabilities of this detector with a time-correlated single-photon counting measurement of photoluminescence from a semiconductor sample emitting at 1.65 µm.
We report use of a niobium nitride superconducting single-photon detector in a time-correlated single-photon counting experiment. The detector has a timing jitter of 68 ± 3 ps full width at half maximum with a Gaussian temporal profile. The detector's dark count rate and detection efficiency can be tuned by adjusting the bias current applied to the device. Typical values include a detection efficiency of ~1-2% and a dark count rate below 100 Hz. We use this detector to measure time-resolved photoluminescence at wavelengths up to 1650 nm, well beyond the range of conventional silicon detectors. We also use this superconducting detector to measure the emission of a quantum dot single-photon source.
Detection jitter quantifies variance introduced by the detector in the determination of photon arrival time. It is a crucial performance parameter for systems using superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs). In this work, we have demonstrated that the detection timing jitter is limited in part by the spatial variation of the photon detection events along the length of the wire. We define this jitter source as a geometric jitter since it is related to the length and area of the SNSPD. To characterize the geometric jitter, we have constructed a differential cryogenic readout with less than 7 ps of an electronic jitter that can amplify the pulses generated from the two ends of an SNSPD. By differencing the measured arrival times of the two electrical pulses, we were able to partially cancel out the difference of the propagation times and thus reduce the uncertainty of the photon arrival time. We proved that the variation of the differential propagation time was a few ps for a 3 μm × 3 μm device, while it increased up to 50 ps for a 20 μm × 20 μm device. In a 20 μm × 20 μm large SNSPD, we achieved a 20% reduction in the overall detection timing jitter for detecting the telecom-wavelength photons by using the differential cryogenic readout.
We report on the photoresponse mapping of nanowire superconducting single-photon detectors using a focal spot significantly smaller than the device area (10×10μm2). Using a confocal microscope configuration and solid immersion lens, we achieve a spot size of 320nm full width at half maximum onto the device at 470nm wavelength. We compare the response maps of two devices: The higher detection efficiency device gives a uniform response, whereas the lower detection efficiency device is limited by a single defect or constriction.