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Chinese Physics B

Wavelength dependence of intrinsic detection efficiency of NbN superconducting nanowire single-photon detector*

Yong Wang, Hao Li, Lixing You, Chaolin Lv, Heqing Wang, Xing-Yu Zhang, Weijun Zhang, Hui Zhou, Lu Zhang, Xiaoyan Yang, Zhen Wang

Published Jul 1, 2019• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) have attracted considerable attention owing to their excellent detection performance; however, the underlying physics of the detection process is still unclear. In this study, we investigate the wavelength dependence of the intrinsic detection efficiency (IDE) for NbN SNSPDs. We fabricate various NbN SNSPDs with linewidths ranging from 30 nm to 140 nm. Then, for each detector, the IDE curves as a function of bias current for different incident photon wavelengths of 510–1700 nm are obtained. From the IDE curves, the relations between photon energy and bias current at a certain IDE are extracted. The results exhibit clear nonlinear energy–current relations for the NbN detectors, indicating that a detection model only considering quasiparticle diffusion is unsuitable for the meander-type NbN-based SNSPDs. Our work provides additional experimental data on SNSPD detection mechanism and may serve as an interesting reference for further investigation.

DOI
10.1088/1674-1056/28/7/078502

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IEEE photonics journal•Nov 29, 2019•11 citations
Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) have attracted considerable attention owing to their excellent detection performance; however, the underlying physics of the detection process is still unclear. In this study, we investigate the wavelength dependence of the intrinsic detection efficiency (IDE) for NbN SNSPDs. We fabricate various NbN SNSPDs with linewidths ranging from 30 nm to 140 nm. Then, for each detector, the IDE curves as a function of bias current for different incident photon wavelengths of 510–1700 nm are obtained. From the IDE curves, the relations between photon energy and bias current at a certain IDE are extracted. The results exhibit clear nonlinear energy–current relations for the NbN detectors, indicating that a detection model only considering quasiparticle diffusion is unsuitable for the meander-type NbN-based SNSPDs. Our work provides additional experimental data on SNSPD detection mechanism and may serve as an interesting reference for further investigation.
We evaluate experimentally the intrinsic detection efficiency (IDE) of superconducting NbN nanowire single-photon detectors in the range of wire thicknesses from 4 to 12 nm. The study is performed in the broad spectral interval between near-ultraviolet (wavelength 400 nm) and near-infrared (wavelength 2000 nm) light with plane waves at normal incidence. For visible light the IDE of the thinnest detectors reaches 70%. We use numerically computed absorptance of the nanowire-structures for the analysis of the experimental data. Variations in the detection efficiency with both the wire thickness and the wavelength evidence the red boundary of the hot-spot photon-detection mechanism. We explain the detection at larger wavelengths invoking thermal excitation of magnetic Pearl vortices over the potential barrier at the edges of the wire.
We present thorough measurements of the intrinsic detection efficiency in the wavelength range from 350 to 2500 nm for meander-type TaN and NbN superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors with different widths of the nanowire. The width varied from 70 nm to 130 nm. The open-beam configuration allowed us to accurately normalize measured spectra and to extract the intrinsic detection efficiency. For detectors from both materials the intrinsic detection efficiency at short wavelengths amounts at 100% and gradually decreases at wavelengths larger than the specific cut-off wavelengths, which decreases with the width of the nanowire. Furthermore, we show that applying weak magnetic fields perpendicular to the meander plane decreases the smallest detectable photon flux.
Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) with high system detection efficiency (SDE) would enable remarkable experiments in quantum information processing. However, realizing a NbN SNSPD with saturated intrinsic detection efficiency (IDE) that retains high SDE at near-infrared wavelengths is challenging, due to the high critical temperature of NbN. This study uses defect engineering by helium-ion irradiation to enhance the IDE of NbN SNSPDs to saturation without sacrificing SDE. This technique also allows direct comparison of irradiation-induced changes in detector performance, making it a useful tool for studying the physics of superconducting devices.
Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPD) have unique characteristics of ultra low dark counts and wide spectrum sensitivity. These natures are indispensable for the evaluation of ultra-broadband parametric fluorescence, which are used for the quantum optical coherence tomography and novel optical non-linear experiments. Here we report the spectral dependence of the detection efficiency of a meander type SNSPD device, having reduced strip width of 50 nm, over a wide spectrum range up to near infra-red wavelength. The fiber coupled, meander type device was fabricated using 6 nm thick Niobium nitride (NbN) nanowires of reduced strip width, 50 nm, patterned over a MgO substrate with active area of 10 x 10 μm2. A maximum efficiency of 32% at 500 nm, 30% at 600 nm, 16% at 800 nm, 10% at 1000 nm, and 1% at 1550 nm with the normalized bias current of 0.95 (bias 37 μA ) was observed at 4.2 K. The salient feature of the device is, it exhibits a very low dark count rate (DCR) of only 2 Hz at the standard operating bias of 37 μA and ultra low DCR of 0.01Hz at 34 μA. Moreover, at this reduced bias with 0.01Hz DCR, the detection efficiency is not appreciably decreased in the visible region (32% at 500 nm and 30% at 600 nm) and an order decrease is observed (0.1%) at 1550 nm. The noise equivalent power (NEP) is of the order 10-19 WHz-1/2 in the visible region and 10-17 WHz- 1/2 in the near IR region. Ultra-broad band parametric fluorescence of band width from 791 nm to 1610 nm generated by a quasi-phase matched (QPM) device was successfully detected with this SSPD.
We investigate the detection efficiency of a spiral layout of a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector. The design is less susceptible to the critical current reduction in sharp turns of the nanowire than the conventional meander design. Detector samples with different nanowire widths from 100 to 300 nm are patterned from a 4-nm-thick NbN film deposited on sapphire substrates. The critical current ICat 4.2 K for spiral, meander, and single-bridge structures is measured and compared. On the 100-nm-wide samples, the detection efficiency is measured in the wavelength range 400-1700 nm and the spectral bandwidth of the intrinsic detection efficiency is determined. In the optical range, the spiral detector reaches a detection efficiency of 27.6%, which is ~ 1.5 times the value of the meander. In the infrared range the detection efficiency of the spiral superconducting nanowire single-photon detector is more than doubled.
We demonstrate superconducting nanowire single photon detector (SNSPD) for the wavelength at around 2 μm. The linewidth of the NbN nanowire is squeezed to 56 nm to increase the intrinsic response efficiencies at longer wavelengths such as 2 μm. Serially connecting avalanche architecture is applied to increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the response signal. Further, the optical cavity is optimized to improve the absorption of the device. A silica single-mode fiber is adopted to introduce photons to the SNSPD at a temperature of 2.25 K using a Gifford-McMahon cryocooler. The SNSPD exhibits detection efficiencies of 58%, 67%, and 63% at wavelengths of 1550, 1700, and 2000 nm, respectively, with dark count rate of ~12 kcps, which is reduced to 2 cps when the attached fiber pigtail is all placed inside the 40-K cryostat. The detection efficiency at 2000 nm is 2.5 times greater than that of the best previously developed detector with an efficiency of 25%. Our SNSPD is promising for practical applications in molecular science and earth meteorology.