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中国物理B：英文版

High efficiency, large-active-area superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors

顾敏, 张蜡宝, 康琳, Qingyuan Zhao, 郏涛, 万超, 徐睿莹, 杨小忠, 吴培亨, 张永

Published Jan 1, 2015• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

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.

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Applied Physics Letters•May 31, 2010•112 citations
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 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.
We develop single-photon detectors comprising single-mode fiber-coupled superconducting nanowires, with high system detection efficiencies at a wavelength of 940 nm. The detector comprises a 6.5-nm-thick, 110-nm-wide NbN nanowire meander fabricated onto a Si substrate with a distributed Bragg reflector for enhancing the optical absorptance. We demonstrate that, via the design of a low filling factor (1/3) and active area (Φ = 10 μm), the system reaches a detection efficiency of ∼60% with a dark count rate of 10 Hz, a recovery time <12 ns, and a timing jitter of ∼50 ps.
We present high performance fiber-coupled niobium titanium nitride superconducting nanowire single photon detectors fabricated on thermally oxidized silicon substrates. The best device showed a system detection efficiency (DE) of 74%, dark count rate of 100 c/s, and 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. We also introduced six detectors into the cryocooler and confirmed that the system DE of all detectors was higher than 67% at the dark count rate of 100 c/s.
Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) have demonstrated advantages over traditional detectors in many fields [1]. Most fiber-coupled SNSPDs are coupled to single mode fibers, limiting their usability for applications where large surface area detectors are needed, for example fluorescence detection and satellite-based quantum communication [2][3]. Other important requirements for many applications are broadband detection efficiency, and low timing jitter [4]. So far, the increased meander length of multimode detectors, and the therefore increased kinetic inductance and number of imperfections due to film inhomogeneities have limited the timing jitter [5]. Moreover, combining low timing jitter with high detection efficiency and low dark count rate in one device is challenging due to the tradeoffs between different properties of SNSPDs [6]. In this paper, we achieved high efficiency and strong saturation over a broad wavelength range with a low timing jitter of 16.99 ps while maintaining a low dark count rate of < 0.2 Hz for an SNSPD coupled to a 50 µm core multimode fiber. To enhance the broadband absorption from 405 nm to 830 nm, detectors were fabricated on an optimized SiO2 cavity and Aluminum mirror. The geometry of the nanowire was also tuned to reach a good internal saturation of efficiency over the visible/NIR range but also to carry high current to get a large signal. Furthermore, a cryogenic readout amplifier was optimized to improve the signal to noise ratio and thus lead to high time resolution. Our devices can be readily used to enable higher resolution and faster quantum optics, bio-imaging, laser ranging and other optical experiments.
Satellite-ground quantum communication requires single-photon detectors of 850-nm wavelength with both high detection efficiency and large sensitive area. We developed superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) on one-dimensional photonic crystals, which acted as optical cavities to enhance the optical absorption, with a sensitive-area diameter of 50 μm. The fabricated multimode fiber coupled NbN SNSPDs exhibited a maximum system detection efficiency (DE) of up to 82% and a DE of 78% at a dark count rate of 100 Hz at 850-nm wavelength as well as a system jitter of 105 ps.
Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) have emerged as a highly promising infrared single-photon detector technology. Next-generation devices are being developed with enhanced detection efficiency (DE) at key technological wavelengths via the use of optical cavities. Furthermore, new materials and substrates are being explored for improved fabrication versatility, higher DE, and lower dark counts. We report on the practical performance of packaged NbTiN SNSPDs fabricated on oxidized silicon substrates in the wavelength range from 830 to 1700 nm. We exploit constructive interference from the SiO2/Si interface in order to achieve enhanced front-side fiber-coupled DE of 23.2 % at 1310 nm, at 1 kHz dark count rate, with 60 ps full width half maximum timing jitter.