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Optical Sensing, Imaging, and Photon Counting: From X-Rays to THz

Hot-spot relaxation time current dependence in niobium nitride waveguide-integrated superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (Conference Presentation)

Simone Ferrari, Wolfram H. P. Pernice

Published Oct 18, 2017• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We realize fast, efficient and small footprint niobium nitride superconducting nanowire single photon detectors atop of photonic waveguides. By reducing the bias current of the nanowire, in order to break the superconductivity and trigger a detection event, more than one photon needs to be absorbed in a localized section of the wire within a very short time delay (hot-spot relaxation time), making such devices promising also for multiphoton sensing applications. We adopt a near-infrared pump-probe technique in a cryogenic environment to investigate the bias current dependence of the hot-spot relaxation time. A minimum relaxation time of (22 ± 1) ps is obtained when applying a bias current of 50% of the switching current at a bath temperature of 1.7K. Our study reveals a strong increase of the picosecond relaxation time with increasing bias current. We further adopt the same technique for determining the multi-photon detection regimes of the detector, which are in agreement with standard quantum detector tomography. In this context, we introduce a practical model and reconstruction method for determining the detector sensitivity regimes. Our work provides a complete description of the detector working operation in both number photon threshold sensitivity and time-delay sensitivity. The results allow for implementing on-chip measurement architectures for the characterization of weak classical light emitters and fast single photon sources with only one detector, driven at different biasing currents, with a drastic reduction of the time uncertainty limitations of typical correlation measurement systems.

DOI
10.1117/12.2272679

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Scientific Reports•Jan 18, 2018•51 citations
We realize fast, efficient and small footprint niobium nitride superconducting nanowire single photon detectors atop of photonic waveguides. By reducing the bias current of the nanowire, in order to break the superconductivity and trigger a detection event, more than one photon needs to be absorbed in a localized section of the wire within a very short time delay (hot-spot relaxation time), making such devices promising also for multiphoton sensing applications. We adopt a near-infrared pump-probe technique in a cryogenic environment to investigate the bias current dependence of the hot-spot relaxation time. A minimum relaxation time of (22 ± 1) ps is obtained when applying a bias current of 50% of the switching current at a bath temperature of 1.7K. Our study reveals a strong increase of the picosecond relaxation time with increasing bias current. We further adopt the same technique for determining the multi-photon detection regimes of the detector, which are in agreement with standard quantum detector tomography. In this context, we introduce a practical model and reconstruction method for determining the detector sensitivity regimes. Our work provides a complete description of the detector working operation in both number photon threshold sensitivity and time-delay sensitivity. The results allow for implementing on-chip measurement architectures for the characterization of weak classical light emitters and fast single photon sources with only one detector, driven at different biasing currents, with a drastic reduction of the time uncertainty limitations of typical correlation measurement systems.
We investigate how the bias current affects the hot-spot relaxation dynamics in niobium nitride. We use for this purpose a near-infrared pump-probe technique on a waveguide-integrated superconducting nanowire single-photon detector driven in the two-photon regime. We observe a strong increase in the picosecond relaxation time for higher bias currents. A minimum relaxation time of (22 ± 1) ps is obtained when applying a bias current of 50% of the switching current at 1.7 K bath temperature. We also propose a practical approach to accurately estimate the photon detection regimes based on the reconstruction of the measured detector tomography at different bias currents and for different illumination conditions.
Photonic integrated circuits hold great potential for realizing quantum technology. Efficient single-photon detectors are an essential constituent of any such quantum photonic implementation. In this regard waveguide-integrated superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors are an ideal match for achieving advanced photon counting capabilities in photonic integrated circuits. However, currently considered material systems do not readily satisfy the demands of next generation nanophotonic quantum technology platforms with integrated single-photon detectors, in terms of refractive-index contrast, band gap, optical nonlinearity, thermo-optic stability and fast single-photon counting with high signal-to-noise ratio. Here we show that such comprehensive functionality can be realized by integrating niobium titanium nitride superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors with tantalum pentoxide waveguides. We demonstrate state-of-the-art detector performance in this novel material system, including devices showing 75% on-chip detection efficiency at tens of dark counts per second, detector decay times below 1 ns and sub-30 ps timing accuracy for telecommunication wavelengths photons at 1550 nm. Notably, we realize saturation of the internal detection efficiency over a previously unattained bias current range for waveguide-integrated niobium titanium nitride superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors. Our work enables the full set of high-performance single-photon detection capabilities on the emerging tantalum pentoxide-on-insulator platform for future applications in integrated quantum photonics.
Abstract Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors (SNSPDs) are key building blocks for photonic quantum technologies due to their ability to detect single photons with ultra-high efficiency, low dark counts and fast temporal resolution. Superconducting materials exhibiting high uniformity, large absorption cross-section and atomic-scale thickness are desirable to extend single-photon detection from the near-infrared up to the terahertz regime, where existing material choices are especially constrained. Substrate independence would further open the way to integrating detectors onto functional materials and heterostructures, enhancing performance and enabling proximal readout of a wide range of individual excitations. Here, we pattern the prototypical two-dimensional superconductor niobium diselenide (NbSe 2 ) into few-layer nanowires less than 100 nm wide and demonstrate single-photon detection at 780 nm and 1550 nm. At the same time, the dark-count rate remains below 1 Hz up to the switching current and we achieve a timing jitter below 50 ps. We estimate via a diffusive hot-spot model that materials and geometric parameters would allow a theoretical cut-off wavelength in the millimetre range, assuming state-of-the-art device parameters. Our results open up routes toward quantum-limited detectors integrated into quantum-photonic circuits and quantum devices, with the potential for novel detection capabilities and unprecedented energy sensitivity.
We study the reset dynamics of niobium (Nb) superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) using experimental measurements and numerical simulations. The numerical simulations of the detection dynamics agree well with experimental measurements, using independently determined parameters in the simulations. We find that if the photon-induced hotspot cools too slowly, the device will latch into a dc resistive state. To avoid latching, the time for the hotspot to cool must be short compared to the inductive time constant that governs the resetting of the current in the device after hotspot formation. From simulations of the energy relaxation process, we find that the hotspot cooling time is determined primarily by the temperature-dependent electron-phonon inelastic time. Latching prevents reset and precludes subsequent photon detection. Fast resetting to the superconducting state is, therefore, essential, and we demonstrate experimentally how this is achieved. We compare our results to studies of reset and latching in niobium nitride SNSPDs.
We report the fabrication and characterization of a niobium titanium nitride (NbTiN)-based superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SSPD or SNSPD) on the Si waveguide toward the realization of waveguide-coupled SSPD. The device consists of a silicon optical waveguide fabricated using a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate and a 100-nm-wide NbTiN nanowire constructed on the waveguide, with an inductor to prevent latch operation. For the fabricated device, the observed superconducting critical temperature and critical current were 7.85 K and 34.4 μA at 0.3 K, respectively. We investigated the optical response of the fabricated device and found that the device exhibited a single-photon response by measuring of the input power dependence of the output count rate. Furthermore, the fabricated device showed a clear bias current dependence of the output counts similar to conventional SSPDs, and the pulse-generation probability is estimated to be 90.1% based on two assumptions: a sigmoidal model to the detection efficiency and the device has a 100% pulse-generation probability at the saturated region.
Abstract Hotspot relaxation time (τ th ) is one of the essential parameter which defines the maximum count rate of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs). We studied the τ th for NbN-based SNSPDs on various substrates using the two-photon detection method based on the pump-probe spectroscopy technique. We observed that τ th strongly increased with increasing bias current in the two-photon detection regime. In addition, the minimum hotspot relaxation time (τ th )min was not significantly affected by the bath temperature; this is different from the previous observations reported for WSi SNSPDs. In addition, a strong dependency of (τ th )min on the substrate was found. The minimum (τ th )min was 11.6 ps for SNSPDs made of 5.5-nm-thick NbN on MgO (100), whereas the maximum (τ th )min was 34.5 ps for SNSPDs made of 7.5-nm-thick NbN on Si (100). We presented a direct correlation between the values of τ th and degrees of disorder of NbN films grown on different substrates.