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International Journal of Quantum Information

An efficient performance evaluation modeling tool for SNSPD used in QKD systems

Adil Fadhil Mushatet, Shelan Khasro Tawfeeq

Published Oct 1, 2019• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Single-photon detection concept is the most crucial and often difficult factor to determine the performance of quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. One solution to facilitate understanding this concept is to create a virtual environment for modeling, analyzing, and investigating the performance of single photon detectors. In this paper, a simulator for superconducting single photon detectors with time domain visualizer and configurable parameters is presented. The widely used ID281SNSPD in the QKD area was theoretically modeled in terms of pulse analysis, the impact of biasing current and the temperature on the dark counts rate and single photon-detection efficiency and influence of the number of photons per pulse on the single photon-detection efficiency. The simulated results were in good agreement with the theoretical results and the simulator demonstrated its adaptability.

DOI
10.1142/s021974991950059x

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Single-photon detection concept is the most crucial and often difficult factor to determine the performance of quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. One solution to facilitate understanding this concept is to create a virtual environment for modeling, analyzing, and investigating the performance of single photon detectors. In this paper, a simulator for superconducting single photon detectors with time domain visualizer and configurable parameters is presented. The widely used ID281SNSPD in the QKD area was theoretically modeled in terms of pulse analysis, the impact of biasing current and the temperature on the dark counts rate and single photon-detection efficiency and influence of the number of photons per pulse on the single photon-detection efficiency. The simulated results were in good agreement with the theoretical results and the simulator demonstrated its adaptability.
Single-photon detection concept is the most crucial factor that determines the performance of quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. In this paper, a simulator with time domain visualizers and configurable parameters using continuous time simulation approach is presented for modeling and investigating the performance of single-photon detectors operating in Gieger mode at the wavelength of 830 nm. The widely used C30921S silicon avalanche photodiode was modeled in terms of avalanche pulse, the effect of experiment conditions such as excess voltage, temperature and average photon number on the photon detection efficiency, dark count rate and afterpulse probability. This work shows a general repeatable modeling process for significant performance evaluation. The most remarkable result emerged from the simulated data generated and detected by commercial devices is that the modeling process provides guidance for single-photon detectors design and characterization. The validation and testing results of the single-photon avalanche detectors (SPAD) simulator showed acceptable results with the theoretical and experimental results reported in related references and the device's data sheets.
The recent advances in superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD or SSPD) technology has enabled long distance quantum key distribution (QKD) over an optical fiber. We point out that the performance of SNSPDs play a crucial role in achieving a secure transmission distance of 100 km or longer. We analyze such an impact from a simplified model and use it to interpret results from our differential-phase-shift (DPS) QKD experiment. This allows us to discuss the optimization of the detection time window and the clock frequency given the detector characteristics such as dark count rate, detection efficiency, and timing jitter.
The forthcoming era of quantum computers can be a threat to the conventional cryptography and data security. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) provides unconditional security under real-life conditions with several protocols over long distances in fibre and free space communication. Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors (SNSPDs) are becoming a dominant technology for QKD thanks to their unique characteristics, such as a near-unity efficiency in the infrared, low dark counts and picoseconds time resolution. Where the detector is typically a weakness of QKD, these SNSPDs characteristics make exploitation difficult. In this work, we characterized NbN SNSPDs at 2.2 K, using a CW laser source at 1550 nm, varying both bias currents and input photon rates to prove their high efficiency at low dark counts with a high counting rate, consistent with the requirements for QKD over long distances or with a high secure key rate.
We present our semiempirical approach for modeling Dark Count Rate (DCR) and Quantum Efficiency (QE) of current biased Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors (SNSPDs). Using the qualitative outcomes of the present SNSPD models, we define new quantitative parameters including hotspot lifetime, resistive barrier generation rates and detector dead time to mathematically integrate different physical phenomena of the device into a unified model. The capability of the model to predict the outcomes of the measurements is demonstrated by reporting the details of the supporting experiments and showing a good agreement between simulation and experimental results.
We developed a superconducting nanowire single-photon detection (SNSPD) system based on Gifford-McMahon cryocooler for quantum communication applications. Environmental factors which may influence the system performance are intensively studied. Those factors include temperature fluctuations, the ambient magnetic field and the background radiation. By optimizing the bias circuit, the stability of SNSPD system to electrical noise and disturbance was effectively enhanced, thus making it more suitable for field application. A 4-channel SNSPD system with quantum efficiency higher than 4% at the dark count rate of 10 Hz for λ=1550 nm is integrated and applied into a quantum key distribution (QKD) experiment. QKD was successfully carried out over 100 km optical fiber with the final secure key rate of 1.6 kbps and the quantum bit error rate of less than 2%.
The quantum properties of electromagnetic radiation at single photon level promise to offer what are classically inaccessible. Single photon sources and detectors are therefore on demand for exploiting these properties in practical applications, including but not limited to quantum information processing and communication. In this thesis, I advance Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors (SNSPD) both in terms of models describing their operation, and their performance. I report on characterization, semi-empirical modeling, quantum-optical modeling and detector tomography. The results provide more accurate methods and formulations to \ncharacterize and mathematically describe the detectors, valuable findings from both application and device points of views. I also introduce the concept of Gated SNSPDs, show how to implement and how to characterize them. Through series of theoretical and experimental investigations, I show performance advantages of Gated SNSPDs in terms of dead time and dark count rate, important figures for many applications like quantum key distribution. The ultimate limitations of gated operation are also explored by physical modeling and \nsimulation steps.