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IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

Operation of Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors Embedded in Lumped-Element Resonant Circuits

Steffen Doerner, Artem A. Kuzmin, S. Wünsch, K. Ilin, M. Siegel

Published Feb 5, 2016• 19 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We propose a new operation principle for superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) enabling an efficient frequency-division multiplexing of the bias and readout signals of a large multipixel detector array. The SNSPD is part of a resonant circuit, and the microwave signal inside the device is used to bias the detector close to the critical state. Hence, an n×m pixel SNSPD array requires only two coaxial cables from room temperature to the detector ambient temperature of 4.2 K. We show the microwave characterization and single-photon response of such devices and compare the detector efficiencies with conventional dc-biased SNSPDs. Furthermore, we demonstrate the feasibility of array applications with the new operation mode in a two-pixel proof-of-principle device.

DOI
10.1109/tasc.2016.2525995

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We propose a new operation principle for superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) enabling an efficient frequency-division multiplexing of the bias and readout signals of a large multipixel detector array. The SNSPD is part of a resonant circuit, and the microwave signal inside the device is used to bias the detector close to the critical state. Hence, an n×m pixel SNSPD array requires only two coaxial cables from room temperature to the detector ambient temperature of 4.2 K. We show the microwave characterization and single-photon response of such devices and compare the detector efficiencies with conventional dc-biased SNSPDs. Furthermore, we demonstrate the feasibility of array applications with the new operation mode in a two-pixel proof-of-principle device.
The concept of the radio-frequency superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (RF-SNSPD) allows frequency-division multiplexing of the bias and readout lines of several SNSPDs. Using this method, a multi-pixel array can be operated by only one feed line. Consequently, the system complexity as well as the heat load is significantly reduced. To allocate many pixels into a small bandwidth the quality factor of each device is crucial. In this paper, we present an improved RF-SNSPD design. This new design enables a simple tuning of the quality factor as well as the resonant frequency. With a two-pixel device we have demonstrated the operation without crosstalk between the detectors and showed the time, spatial, and photon number resolution. Thereby a single pixel requires only a bandwidth of 14 MHz.
We demonstrate a 16-pixel array of microwave-current driven superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors with an integrated and scalable frequency-division multiplexing architecture, which reduces the required number of bias and readout lines to a single microwave feed line. The electrical behavior of the photon-sensitive nanowires, embedded in a resonant circuit, as well as the optical performance and timing jitter of the single detectors is discussed. Besides the single pixel measurements, we also demonstrate the operation of a 16-pixel array with a temporal, spatial, and photon-number resolution.
Superconducting nanowires are widely used as sensitive single photon detectors with wide spectral coverage and high timing resolution. We describe a demonstration of an array of dc-biased superconducting nanowire single photon detectors read out with a microwave multiplexing circuit. In this design, each individual nanowire is part of a resonant LC circuit where the inductance is dominated by the kinetic inductance of the nanowire. The circuit also contains two parallel plate capacitors, one of them is in parallel with the inductor and the other is coupled to a microwave transmission line that carries the signals to a cryogenic low-noise amplifier. All of the nanowires are connected via resistors to a single dc bias line that enables the nanowires to be current biased close to their critical current. When a photon hits a nanowire, it creates a normal hotspot that produces a voltage pulse across the LC circuit. This pulse rings down at the resonant frequency of the LC circuit over a time period that is fixed by the quality factor. We present measurements of an array of these devices and an evaluation of their performance in terms of frequency and time response.
© 2002-2011 IEEE. Superconducting nanowires are widely used as sensitive single photon detectors with wide spectral coverage and high timing resolution. We describe a demonstration of an array of dc-biased superconducting nanowire single photon detectors read out with a microwave multiplexing circuit. In this design, each individual nanowire is part of a resonant LC circuit where the inductance is dominated by the kinetic inductance of the nanowire. The circuit also contains two parallel plate capacitors, one of them is in parallel with the inductor and the other is coupled to a microwave transmission line that carries the signals to a cryogenic low-noise amplifier. All of the nanowires are connected via resistors to a single dc bias line that enables the nanowires to be current biased close to their critical current. When a photon hits a nanowire, it creates a normal hotspot that produces a voltage pulse across the LC circuit. This pulse rings down at the resonant frequency of the LC circuit over a time period that is fixed by the quality factor. We present measurements of an array of these devices and an evaluation of their performance in terms of frequency and time response.
We present the development of key technologies for realization of superconducting nanowire single photon detector array system, which enables high counting rates, and allow spatial and pseudo photon number resolution. Toward the realization of practical large-scale SSPD array system, primary issue is how to avoid heat flow into cryocooler system. One of the challenging tasks is the development of their readout electronics. In the conventional readout technique used for single pixel devices, the number of high-frequency coaxial cables increases proportionally with the number of arrays. This causes a significant increase in the heat load from room temperature, which makes the implementation of the SSPD arrays in a compact refrigerator difficult. To overcome this problem, we proposed applying readout electronics with superconducting single-flux-quantum (SFQ) logic circuitsWe show the implementation and successful operation of four pixels SSPD array connected to SFQ readout electronics with parallel bias scheme in a 0.1W GM cryocooler system.
We present a time-over-threshold readout technique to count the number of activated pixels from an array of superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs). This technique places no additional heatload on the cryostat, and retains the intrinsic count rate of the time-tagger. We demonstrate proof-of-principle operation with respect to a four-pixel device. Furthermore, we show that, given some permissible error threshold, the number of pixels that can be reliably read out scales linearly with the intrinsic signal-to-noise ratio of the individual pixel response.