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Review of Scientific Instruments

Superconducting single-photon counting system for optical experiments requiring time-resolution in the picosecond range

Julia Toussaint, Roman Grüner, Marco Schubert, Torsten May, Hans‐Georg Meyer, Benjamin Dietzek, Jürgen Popp, M. Hofherr, Matthias Arndt, D. Henrich, K. Ilin, M. Siegel

Published Dec 1, 2012• 11 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have developed a cryogenic measurement system for single-photon counting, which can be used in optical experiments requiring high time resolution in the picosecond range. The system utilizes niobium nitride superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors which are integrated in a time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) setup. In this work, we describe details of the mechanical design, the electrical setup, and the cryogenic optical components. The performance of the complete system in TCSPC mode is tentatively benchmarked using 140 fs long laser pulses at a repetition frequency of 75 MHz. Due to the high temporal stability of these pulses, the measured time resolution of 35 ps (FWHM) is limited by the timing jitter of the measurement system. The result was cross-checked in a Coherent Anti-stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) setup, where scattered pulses from a β-barium borate crystal have been detected with the same time resolution.

DOI
10.1063/1.4769048

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We have developed a cryogenic measurement system for single-photon counting, which can be used in optical experiments requiring high time resolution in the picosecond range. The system utilizes niobium nitride superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors which are integrated in a time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) setup. In this work, we describe details of the mechanical design, the electrical setup, and the cryogenic optical components. The performance of the complete system in TCSPC mode is tentatively benchmarked using 140 fs long laser pulses at a repetition frequency of 75 MHz. Due to the high temporal stability of these pulses, the measured time resolution of 35 ps (FWHM) is limited by the timing jitter of the measurement system. The result was cross-checked in a Coherent Anti-stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) setup, where scattered pulses from a β-barium borate crystal have been detected with the same time resolution.
Time resolution is one of the main characteristics of the single photon detectors besides quantum efficiency and dark count rate. We demonstrate here an ultrafast time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) setup consisting of a newly developed single photon counting board SPC-150NX and a superconducting NbN single photon detector with a sensitive area of 7 × 7 μm. The combination delivers a record instrument response function with a full width at half maximum of 17.8 ps and system quantum efficiency ∼15% at wavelength of 1560 nm. A calculation of the root mean square value of the timing jitter for channels with counts more than 1% of the peak value yielded about 7.6 ps. The setup has also good timing stability of the detector-TCSPC board.
Single-photon detection with high efficiency, high time resolution, low dark counts, and high photon detection rates is crucial for a wide range of optical measurements. Although efficient detectors have been reported before, combining all performance parameters in a single device remains a challenge. Here, we show a broadband NbTiN superconducting nanowire detector with an efficiency exceeding 92%, over 150 MHz photon detection rate, and a dark count rate below 130 Hz operated in a Gifford-McMahon cryostat. Furthermore, with careful optimization of the detector design and readout electronics, we reach an ultra-low system timing jitter of 14.80 ps (13.95 ps decoupled) while maintaining high detection efficiencies (>75%).
High temporal resolution detection for time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) is critical for a broad range of applications, such as sensing, bio-imaging and quantum information. To harness non-classical advantages, high temporal resolution TCSPC is necessary to capture the unique properties of quantum entanglement, in which the precise time delays between two photons are used to reconstruct the biphoton distribution. However, current state-of-the art, high-resolution TCSPC systems, such as superconducting nanowires, have large footprints and require cryogenic cooling to liquid helium temperatures. They are not well equipped to be conveniently mounted on a satellite or transported within a health care facility. Small footprint, simple, low energy consuming single photon detection systems are therefore needed in order for high temporal resolution TCSPC applications to move beyond the research laboratory. In this direction, we demonstrate a proof-of-concept experiment for improving the temporal resolution of single-photon and biphoton detection schemes that is simple, fiber-based, and readily chip integrable. The principle relies on electrooptic gating of fast single-photon and biphoton signals using a high-speed RF pulse which drives an electro optic intensity modulator. As such, the instrument response function (IRF) of the detection scheme takes on the temporal profile of the electro-optic gate. Experimentally, we improve the IRF of our detection scheme from ~1.54 ns to <100 ps, allowing high resolution detection of ultrafast single photon TCSPC signals as well as to observe nonlocal dispersion cancellation effects in ultrafast biphoton distributions. This technique could allow for practical and simplified access to rapid temporal dynamics at the single photon scale.
We have developed a practical superconducting nanowire single photon detector (SNSPD) system with our superconducting thin films and devices fabrication, optical coupling packaging, and cryogenic technology. The SNSPD devices were fabricated from high-quality niobium nitride (NbN) ultra-thin films that were epitaxially grown on single-crystal MgO substrates, and optical cavity structure were applied for improvement of photo absorption efficiency. The SNSPD system was developed based on a compact Gifford-McMahon (GM) cryocooler, in which SNSPD can operate continuously at temperature of 2.9 K +/- 10 mK with low power consumption without any liquid cryogens. The system detection efficiencies at 1550 nm wavelength (at a 100 Hz dark count rate) were found to be 2.6% for device without optical cavity and 21% for device with optical cavity. The response speed of devices showed maximally 200 MHz with 5 × 5 mm square device, and timing jitter of 100 ps full width at a half maximum (FWHM) was observed.
Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors are a key technology for quantum information and science due to their high efficiency, low timing jitter, and low dark counts. In this work, we present a detector for single 1550 nm photons with up to 78% detection efficiency, timing jitter below 50 ps FWHM, 158 counts/s dark count rate - as well as a world-leading maximum count rate of 1.5 giga-counts/s at 3 dB compression. The PEACOQ detector (Performance-Enhanced Array for Counting Optical Quanta) comprises a linear array of 32 straight superconducting niobium nitride nanowires which span the mode of an optical fiber. This design supports high count rates with minimal penalties for detection efficiency and timing jitter. We show how these trade-offs can be mitigated by implementing independent read-out for each nanowire and by using a temporal walk correction technique to reduce count-rate dependent timing jitter. These detectors make quantum communication practical on a 10 GHz clock.
Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors are a key technology for quantum information and science due to their high efficiency, low timing jitter, and low dark counts. In this work, we present a detector for single 1550 nm photons with up to 78% detection efficiency, timing jitter below 50 ps FWHM, 158 counts/s dark count rate, as well as a maximum count rate of 1.5 giga-counts/s at 3 dB compression. The PEACOQ detector (Performance-Enhanced Array for Counting Optical Quanta) comprises a linear array of 32 straight superconducting niobium nitride nanowires that span the mode of an optical fiber. This design supports high count rates with minimal penalties for detection efficiency and timing jitter. We show how these trade-offs can be mitigated by implementing independent readout for each nanowire and by using a temporal walk correction technique to reduce count-rate dependent timing jitter. These detectors make quantum communication practical on a 10 GHz clock.