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Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics

Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detector with High Efficiency and Time Resolution for Multimode Fiber Coupling

Jin Chang, Iman Esmaeil Zadeh, Johannes W. N. Los, Julien Zichi, Val Zwiller

Published Jan 1, 2019• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

In this paper, we report the development of a 50 μm diameter superconducting nanowire single photon detector with sub-19 ps timing jitter and saturated internal efficiency over a broad wavelength range for multimode fiber coupling.
DOI
10.1364/cleo_qels.2019.ff1a.2

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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.
We report the development of the multimode fiber-coupled superconducting nanowire single-photon detector with high system detection efficiency at visible wavelength. The detector consists of a 10.5-nm-thick and 150-nm-wide NbN nanowire meander fabricated on a Si substrate with a multilayer dielectric mirror and a quarter wavelength cavity for obtaining high optical absorptance. The meander area was 35 µm in diameter and coupled with the GRIN-lensed multimode optical fiber with a core diameter of 50 µm. The system reached detection efficiency of 70% with dark count rate of 100 Hz at the wavelength of 635 nm, 3 dB roll-off response counting rate of 8.5 Mcps, and timing jitter of 76 ps.
In the past decade, superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) have gradually become an indispensable part of any demanding quantum optics experiment. Until now, most SNSPDs have been coupled to single-mode fibers. SNSPDs coupled to multimode fibers have shown promising efficiencies but have yet to achieve high time resolution. For a number of applications ranging from quantum nano-photonics to bio-optics, high efficiency and high time resolution are desired at the same time. In this paper, we demonstrate the role of polarization on the efficiency of multimode-fiber-coupled detectors and fabricated high-performance 20 µm, 25 µm, and 50 µm diameter detectors targeted for visible, near-infrared, and telecom wavelengths. A custom-built setup was used to simulate realistic experiments with randomized modes in the fiber. We achieved over 80% system efficiency and $ {\lt} {20}\;{\rm ps}$<20ps timing jitter for 20 µm SNSPDs. Also, we realized 70% system efficiency and $ {\lt} {20}\;{\rm ps}$<20ps timing jitter for 50 µm SNSPDs. The high-efficiency multimode-fiber-coupled SNSPDs with unparalleled time resolution will benefit various quantum optics experiments and applications in the future.
High-performance superconductor nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) coupled by 50-μm multimode fiber were designed and fabricated for the purpose of space applications. Microlens coupling between multimode fiber and detector chip was proposed, resulting in coupling efficiency of 86% at the chips with detection area of 15 x 15 μm2. An optical structure for enhancing the photons absorption and superconductor nanowires with low critical current of 3 μA were fabricated on the chips. A cryogenic amplifier was adopted to increase the signal-to-noise ratio and time jitter of output pulse. The SNSPD exhibited system efficiency (1550 nm) of 56% at a dark count rate of 100 cps, 50% at a dark count rate of 5 cps, and 40% at a dark count rate of 1 cps. The time jitter was 46 ps at full-width at half-maximum. The multimode fiber coupling system with high performance will promote its applications in free space.
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.
In this work, we report a large-active-area multispectral superconducting nanowire single-photon detector for free-space applications. The detector is realized by fabricating NbTiN nanowire with an active area of 35 µm diameter on two serially connected dielectric mirrors that can simultaneously and efficiently detect single photons at the three typical wavelengths employed in free-space applications, namely, 532, 850, and 1064 nm. Maximal system detection efficiencies (SDEs) of 80.0% at 532 nm and 850 nm and 75.8% at 1064 nm are achieved for polarized light obtained by coupling the detector with an SMF-28 fiber. Upon coupling with a 50 µm multimode fiber, SDEs of 68.6%, 59.6%, and 47.0%, are achieved for 532, 850, and 1064 nm wavelength unpolarized light, respectively. Moreover, the detector shows timing jitters of 37.1 and 41.0 ps when coupled with SMF-28 fiber and 50 µm multimode fiber. This type of detector with a large active area and multiwavelength detection capability is promising for both single and multiwavelength free-space applications.