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IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

Ti/Au Transition-Edge Sensors Coupled to Single Mode Optical Fibers Aligned by Si V-Groove

L. Lolli, E. Taralli, Chiara Portesi, Diego Alberto, M. Rajteri, E. Monticone

Published Feb 9, 2011• 18 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Transition-edge sensors (TESs) are promising micro-calorimeters for applications in the field of quantum information, quantum computation and metrology due to their photon-number resolving capability. Quantum efficiency (QE) is fundamental in single-photon detection and it should be as high as possible. For this reason the coupling between the light source and the sensor plays a crucial role.

DOI
10.1109/tasc.2010.2103352

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Transition-edge sensors (TESs) are promising micro-calorimeters for applications in the field of quantum information, quantum computation and metrology due to their photon-number resolving capability. Quantum efficiency (QE) is fundamental in single-photon detection and it should be as high as possible. For this reason the coupling between the light source and the sensor plays a crucial role.
Energy resolution (ΔE), recovery time (τeff), and quantum efficiency (QE) are some of the most important single photon-counting detector parameters. New applications in the quantum optics field place extreme demand on detector performances that go beyond the capabilities of established single-photon detectors. Unfortunately, it is hard to reach best results for all these parameters at the same time. Concerning transition-edge sensors (TESs) as single photon detectors, ΔEand τeffare directly and inversely proportional to the transition temperatureTc, respectively. Moreover, the geometrical optical coupling between illuminating fiber and detector, the device material and the characteristics of the optical cavity or the antireflection coating, drastically influence theQEand in some cases also the ΔE. Previous TESs fabricated by Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica were characterized by very high energy resolution (0.18 eV) but high τeffand lowQE. In this work, we present a Ti/Au TES with higherTc(300 mK) that, using the optical alignment system implemented by AIST, shows an optimization of these important parameters, energy resolution of 0.26 eV, recovery time of 186 ns, and a quantum efficiency of 50% without using any optical structure deposited on the detector.
Transition-Edge Sensors (TESs) are superconducting photon detectors offering high quantum efficiency, energy resolution, and photon-number discrimination, making them attractive for quantum sensing applications. We report on the design, fabrication, and characterization of a Ti/Au/Ti TES optimized for multimode fiber coupling in NV-center experiments. The device integrates a bi-layer anti-reflective coating optimized for 700 nm, the emission wavelength range of NV centers in which we are interested. Optical characterization in a cryogenic setup demonstrated an energy resolution below 2 eV and photon-number resolution capability. A dedicated calibration setup was used to evaluate the system detection efficiency (SDE), yielding0.85±0.020.85 \pm 0.020.85±0.02. These results confirm the suitability of large-area TESs for efficient multimode fiber coupling and highlight their potential for improving the performance of NV-center-based quantum sensing experiments.
Transition-Edge Sensors (TESs) are microcalorimeters that measure the energy of incident single photons by the resistance increase of a superconducting film biased within the superconducting-to-normal transition. TES are able to detect single photons from IR to X-ray with an intrinsic energy resolution and photon-number discrimination capability. Metrology, astronomy and quantum \ncommunication are the fields where these properties can be particularly useful. In this work, we report about characterization of different TESs based on Ti films. Single photons have been detected from 200nm to 800 nm working at transition temperature Tc ∼ 100 mK. Using a pulsed laser at 690nm we have demonstrated the capability to resolve up to five photons.
Transition-edge sensors (TESs) have shown the capability of both energy resolution and resolving photon numbers. In this work, we present the fabrication and characterization of high detection efficiency Ti optical TESs with the critical temperatureTc= 213 mK and the photon-number resolving capability at telecommunication wavelength 1550 nm. The Ti superconducting film is prepared by a DC magnetron sputtering technique. An optical cavity comprised of 5-layers antireflection and 15-layers high-reflection Ta2O5/SiO2is enclosed with the Ti film by an ion beam assisted deposition method to improve detection efficiency, which brings the absorption of 99.74%. The energy resolution for the Ti TES with sensitive area 20 μm × 20 μm is 0.45 eV and the detection efficiency is 97% ± 1%.
Transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeters are promising for application in the field of quantum information and quantum computation thanks to their outstanding single photon detection capabilities. Good energy resolution and photon number discrimination at visible and near-infrared wavelengths make them extensively used as single photon detectors. In this work we report details on the fabrication of Pd/Ti TESs deposited by e-beam evaporation on silicon nitride substrates. We use Pd as alternative to Au layer thanks to its stronger influence on the Ti layer, that allows to obtain the same temperature reduction with thinner layers. The transition temperatures Tcof the devices range from 83 to 110 mK with a transition width DeltaTc=0.5 mK. Thermal and electric characteristics of Pd/Ti TESs at different temperatures and its capability as single photon sensor are reported.
Superconducting photon detectors have emerged as a powerful new option for detecting single photons. System detection efficiency that incorporates the quantum efficiency of the device and system losses is one of the most important single-photon detector performance metrics for quantum information applications. Superconducting transition-edge sensors (TESs) are microcalorimeters that have the ability of distinguishing single photons with negligible dark counts. In addition, TESs are capable of directly measuring the photon number in a pulse of light. We have achieved near-unity system detection efficiency with TESs at particular wavelengths in the near-infrared by using multilayer structures that enhance the absorption of light into the active device material. We describe the design of the multilayer structure enabling high detection efficiency TESs including issues and requirements for obtaining detection efficiency values higher than 99 %. We describe the device fabrication and finally, show recent results of devices optimized for high detection efficiency using the multilayer structure.