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Acta Physica Sinica

Review on superconducting transition edge sensor based single photon detector

Qingya Zhang, Dong Wen-Hui, He Gen-Fang, Tiefu Li, Liu Jian-She, Chen Wei

Published Jan 1, 2014• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Over the past decade, there have been increasing demand on and interest in high performance single photon detectors in many new applications in quantum information technology. Compared with conventional single photon detectors, superconducting transition edge sensor (TES) based single photon detectors have great advantages in the performance of detection efficiency, energy resolution, photon number resolving capability, dark count rate, etc. They have been successfully used in quantum optics experiments and quantum key distribution systems, and they will play a more important role in the research field of quantum information science and technology. In this paper we review the operating principle, fabrication process, performance, measurement system and the research progress on superconducting TES based single photon detectors.

DOI
10.7498/aps.63.200303

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Over the past decade, there have been increasing demand on and interest in high performance single photon detectors in many new applications in quantum information technology. Compared with conventional single photon detectors, superconducting transition edge sensor (TES) based single photon detectors have great advantages in the performance of detection efficiency, energy resolution, photon number resolving capability, dark count rate, etc. They have been successfully used in quantum optics experiments and quantum key distribution systems, and they will play a more important role in the research field of quantum information science and technology. In this paper we review the operating principle, fabrication process, performance, measurement system and the research progress on superconducting TES based single photon detectors.
In the last decade,more and more quantum information applications such as quantum key distribution have been extensively demonstrated.These emerging applications place rigorous demands on detector performance such as detection efficiency,intrinsic photon number resolving ability etc.that go beyond the capabilities of traditional single-photon detectors composed of either photomultiplier tubes(PMTs) or avalanche photodiodes(APDs).Fortunately,several new types of cryogenic detectors such as superconducting transition edge sensor(TES),superconducting nanowire single photon detector(SNSPD),and quantum-dot based single photon detector(QD SPD)have been realized recently.Here we review all kinds of single photon detector technologies at the present time. Advantages,disadvantages,and potential improvement of these techniques for quantum information applications are also discussed.
There is increasing interest in using high-performance cryogenic optical photon detectors in a variety of applications in quantum information science and technology. These applications require detectors that have extremely low dark count rates, high photon count rates, high quantum efficiency, and moderate energy resolution or photon number resolution for near-infrared and optical photons. In this paper, we describe the operation, fabrication, and performance of superconducting transition-edge sensors designed for quantum optics and information applications.
There is increasing interest in using high-performance cryogenic optical photon detectors in a variety of applications in quantum information science and technology. These applications require detectors that have extremely low dark count rates, high photon count rates, high quantum efficiency, and moderate energy resolution or photon number resolution for near-infrared and optical photons. In this paper, we describe the operation, fabrication, and performance of superconducting transition-edge sensors designed for quantum optics and information applications.
Superconducting single-photon detectors have been shown to have extremely high detection efficiency over a large wavelength range, typically exceeding 90 % [1, 2]. Their use in quantum and classical optics is becoming more and more widespread in part due to improvements to and ease of use of the cryogenic packaging. In this talk, we will review two superconducting detector technologies, the superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) and the optical transition-edge sensor (TES) [3], that are being developed at NIST. We will also describe their applications in quantum and classical optics and present our recent effort to use these detectors as calibration standards, as well as our effort to establish a single-photon detector calibration service. Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors The SNSPD is based on a meandering, narrow, thin superconducting nanowire, current-biased close to its critical current. Our SNSPDs operate at temperatures around 1K. When a photon is absorbed in the detection region, the energy deposited drives the wire normal and a voltage pulse can be observed. Due to the speed of the detection process, the SNSPD offers high timing resolution along with detection of the photon flux at the shot-noise limit. The combination of both these features yields a detector that can measure the photon’s arrival time from a faint object or source. SNSPDs also offer single-photon detection capability beyond the wavelength detection range of silicon and InGaAs, out to at least 5000 nm [4]. SNSPDs were also recently implemented in an 8×8-pixel array enabling low-resolution, real-time imaging [5]. For our calibration service effort, we built an SNSPD system that can be used as a transfer standard between labs for single-photon detector calibrations. Transition Edge Sensors In contrast to the SNSPD, the TES is a photon-number resolving detector that has almost unity detection efficiency. The TES consists of a superconducting thin film, voltage-biased so that its resistance is in the transition between the superconducting regime and the normal conducting regime. The steep slope of the resistive transition allows for small temperature changes to be measured. The TES is designed such that the absorption of a single photon increases the temperature of the superconducting film enough to discern the resulting signal from the TES system noise. Therefore, the TES needs to be electrically and thermally quiet and is generally operated at temperatures around 100 mK. Due to its energy resolving capability, the TES can be also used as a spectrally resolving single-photon detector with limited resolution [6]. The TES can also be operated as a cryogenic radiometer in combination with an electrical substitution method, and can, in principle, yield absolute calibration of optical powers on the order of a few tens of femtowatts [7]. References 1 A. E. Lita, A. J. Miller, and S. W. Nam, Opt. Express 16, 3032 (2008). 2 F. Marsili, et al., Nat Photon 7, 210 (2013). 3 R. Hadfield and G. Johansson, Superconducting Devices in Quantum Optics (Springer, 2016). 4 F. Marsili, et al., in CLEO: 2013 (OSA, San Jose, California, 2013), p. CTu1H.1. 5 M. S. Allman, et al., Applied Physics Letters 106, 192601 (2015). 6 M. Fortsch, et al., Journal of Optics 17, 065501 (2015). 7 N. A. Tomlin, J. H. Lehman, and S. Nam, Optics Letters 37, 2346 (2012).