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Opto-Canada: SPIE Regional Meeting on Optoelectronics, Photonics, and Imaging

Ultrafast superconducting single-photon optical detectors and their applications

Alexander A. Verevkin

Published Aug 29, 2017• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Superconducting detectors become the most prominent technology for radiation sensors with ultimate performance. Typically, they are nanostructures formed from an ultra-thin superconducting film incorporated into an external antenna for efficient radiation coupling. The operation of so-called hot-electron bolometers and photodetectors (HEBs and HEPs) is based on nonequilibrium heating of the electron subsystem by the absorbed radiation and results in the film resistance and a corresponding, easily measurable voltage response when device is current biased [1-2]. A relatively simple, single-layer manufacturing technology made these devices very popular for needs of radioastronomy and remote sensing.

DOI
10.1117/12.2283813

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Superconducting detectors become the most prominent technology for radiation sensors with ultimate performance. Typically, they are nanostructures formed from an ultra-thin superconducting film incorporated into an external antenna for efficient radiation coupling. The operation of so-called hot-electron bolometers and photodetectors (HEBs and HEPs) is based on nonequilibrium heating of the electron subsystem by the absorbed radiation and results in the film resistance and a corresponding, easily measurable voltage response when device is current biased [1-2]. A relatively simple, single-layer manufacturing technology made these devices very popular for needs of radioastronomy and remote sensing.
Summary form only given. The current most-pressing need is to develop a practical, GHz-range counting single-photon detector, operational at either 1.3-/spl mu/m or 1.55-/spl mu/m radiation wavelength, for novel quantum communication and quantum cryptography systems. The presented solution of the problem is to use an ultrafast hot-electron photodetector, based on superconducting thin-film microstructures. This type of device is very promising, due to the macroscopic quantum nature of superconductors. Very fast response time and the small, (meV range) value of the superconducting energy gap characterize the superconductor, leading to the efficient avalanche process even for infrared photons.
Superconducting photodetectors offer an interesting alternative to traditional photon counting systems such as photomultiplier tubes and avalanche photodiodes for applications in optical quantum information processing. In these superconducting devices, different mechanisms are exploited to detect the photon absorption, depending on the type of detector (transition edge sensor, superconducting tunnel junction and hot electron bolometer (HEB)). The first two are briefly presented; more emphasis is given on HEB elaboration made with very thin superconducting NbN films due to their unique capability of fast single-photon detection. Constraints on NbN HEB elaboration and on electronic transport properties are presented in the perspective of further improvement of the quantum efficiency in the near-infrared.
A new type of ultra-high-speed single-photon counter for visible and near-infrared wavebands based on an ultrathin NbN hot-electron photodetector (HEP) has been developed. The detector consists of a very narrow superconducting stripe, biased close to its critical current. An incoming photon absorbed by the stripe produces a resistive hotspot and causes an increase in the film's supercurrent density above the critical value, leading to temporary formation of a resistive barrier across the device and an easily measurable voltage pulse. Our NbN HEP is an ultrafast (estimated response time is 30 ps; registered time, due to apparatus limitations, is 150 ps), frequency unselective device with very large intrinsic gain and negligible dark counts. We have observed sequences of output pulses, interpreted as single-photon events for very weak laser beams with wavelengths ranging from 0.5 /spl mu/m to 2.1 /spl mu/m and the signal-to-noise ratio of about 30 dB.
This work presents the results of the development and fabrication of sensitive and ultrafast detectors based on thinfilm superconducting nanostructures: hot-electron bolometers (HEBs) and visible and infrared superconducting singephoton detectors (SSPDs). The main operational principles of the superconducting devices are presented as well as the technology of fabrication of the detectors and their main types and parameters. The achieved record parameters of the detectors allow application of the fabricated devices to solution of various research problems in the near, middle and far IR ranges
Superconducting devices offer the potential to perform at speeds and detection efficiencies higher than what is possible using conventional technologies (such as semiconducting avalanche photodiodes and photomultiplier tubs) for wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the mid-infrared. As a result, there has been increasing interest in using superconducting optical photon detectors in a variety of applications. There has been significant progress in using these types of detectors in areas of basic research such as quantum information science and quantum optics. These applications require detectors that have extremely low dark count rates, high count rates, and high quantum efficiency. I will begin by describing some of our earlier work on superconducting Transition-Edge Sensor (TES). In particular, I will describe some of the engineering involved in the cryogenic, electrical, and optical packaging so that these devices can be easily coupled into fiber-based optics. I will also describe our recent work on developing superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPD or SSPD). An SNSPD is an ultra-thin, ultra-narrow (nm scale) superconducting meander that is current biased just below its critical current density. When one or more photon is absorbed, a hot spot is formed that causes the superconductor to develop a resistance and consequently a voltage pulse. At NIST and JPL, we have been developing nanowire detectors using an amorphous alloy of tungsten-silicide. We will describe to construct systems using tungsten-silicide nanowires to achieve high detection efficiency (>90% at 1550nm). I will also describe our work to improve the performance of the device by fabricating multiple nanowires in an electrically parallel structure to implement a superconducting nanowire avalanche photodiode (SNAP)[1]. One example of this type of detector is shown in Fig 1. In this case, there are two tungsten silicide layers separated by a dielectric layer to optimize detection of light for any polarization[2]. In addition, progress on other types of SNAP detectors will be described to increase the signal size from a single photon, reduce the recovery time of the device, and to improve the jitter.