Efficient Single Photon Detection from 500 nm to 5 μm Wavelength

Marsili, Francesco; Bellei, Francesco; Najafi, Faraz; Dane, Andrew E.; Dauler, Eric A.; Molnar, R. J.; Berggren, Karl K.

doi:10.1021/nl302245n

Cited by 173 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…For example, NbTiN based SSPDs have shown SDEs as high as ~80% at telecommunication wavelengths [2], but do not perfectly saturate in bias current dependency, implying that internal DE is not reached to 100%. An effective way to achieve 100% internal DE is to create a narrower nanowire [8]. This, however, makes the switching current (I sw ) of the nanowire smaller, degrading the timing jitter by reducing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the output.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable, high-performance operation of a fiber-coupled superconducting nanowire avalanche photon detector

et al. 2017

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Recent progress in the development of superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SSPD or SNSPD) has delivered excellent performance, and has had a great impact on a range of research fields. Significant efforts are being made to further improve the technology, and a primary concern remains to resolve the trade-offs between detection efficiency (DE), timing jitter, and response speed. We present a stable and high-performance fiber-coupled niobium titanium nitride superconducting nanowire avalanche photon detector (SNAP) that resolves these trade-offs. We demonstrate afterpulse-free operation in serially connected two SNAPs (SC-2SNAP), even in the absence of a choke inductor, achieving a ~7.7 times faster response speed than standard SSPDs. The SC-2SNAP device showed a system detection efficiency (SDE) of 81.0% with wide bias current margin, a dark count rate of 6.8 counts/s, and full width at half maximum timing jitter of 68 ps, operating in a practical GiffordMcMahon cryocooler system.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable, high-performance operation of a fiber-coupled superconducting nanowire avalanche photon detector

et al. 2017

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“…In particular, quantum-based technologies, such as computation, encryption, and communication rely on such films. Similarly, the leading technology for sensing single photons rapidly [36] and at a broad spectral range [37]-superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs)-is also based on thin superconducting films [34]. Nevertheless, the lack of understanding of the underlying mechanism of superconductivity in thin films and the large scatter of the experimental data for the relationships between T c , R s , and d typically lead to low confidence in the film growth process, encumbering the relevant technological developments.…”

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confidence: 99%

Universal scaling of the critical temperature for thin films near the superconducting-to-insulating transition

et al. 2014

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Thin superconducting films form a unique platform for geometrically confined, strongly interacting electrons. They allow an inherent competition between disorder and superconductivity, which in turn enables the intriguing superconducting-to-insulating transition and is believed to facilitate the comprehension of high-T c superconductivity. Furthermore, understanding thin film superconductivity is technologically essential, e.g., for photodetectors and quantum computers. Consequently, the absence of established universal relationships between critical temperature (T c ), film thickness (d), and sheet resistance (R s ) hinders both our understanding of the onset of the superconductivity and the development of miniaturized superconducting devices. We report that in thin films, superconductivity scales as dT c (R s ). We demonstrated this scaling by analyzing the data published over the past 46 years for different materials (and facilitated this database for further analysis). Moreover, we experimentally confirmed the discovered scaling for NbN films, quantified it with a power law, explored its possible origin, and demonstrated its usefulness for nanometer-length-scale superconducting film-based devices. Relationships between low-temperature and normal-state properties are crucial for understanding superconductivity. For instance, the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory (BCS) successfully associates the normal-to-superconducting transition temperature, T c , with material parameters, such as the Debye temperature ( D ) and the density of states at the Fermi level [N (0)]. Hence, the BCS model allows us to infer superconducting characteristics (i.e., T c ) from properties measured at higher temperatures [1]. In the BCS framework, superconductivity occurs when attractive phonon-mediated electron-electron interactions overcome the Coulomb repulsion, giving rise to paired electrons (Cooper pairs) with a binding energy gap:. Moreover, within a superconductor, all Cooper pairs are coupled, giving rise to a collective electron interaction. Such a collective state is described by a complex global order parameter with real amplitude ( ) and phase (ϕ): = e iϕ .Because superconductivity relies on a collective electron behavior, the onset of superconductivity occurs when the number of participating electrons is just enough to be considered collective, i.e., at the nanoscale [2-5]. Thus, it is known that the superconductivity-disorder interplay varies in thin films and is effectively tuned with the film thickness (d) or with the disorder in the system, which is represented by sheet resistance of the film at the normal state (R s ) [6][7][8][9][10]. The mechanism of superconductivity in thin films has been investigated since the 1930s [6] increase in T c with decreasing thickness in aluminum films in a study that pioneered the currently ongoing research of thin superconducting films. This enhancement of T c , which is still not completely understood, was later confirmed by Strongin et al. [12], who also reported the more common be...

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“…1(b) reaches saturation just before switching to the normal state due to its wider nanowire geometry. 17 The index of refraction of the 7. The source of the loss requires further investigation, but could potentially be attributed to slight fiber-detector misalignment or internal detection efficiency less than unity despite the saturation in system efficiency.…”

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confidence: 99%

Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors fabricated from an amorphous Mo0.75Ge0.25 thin film

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et al. 2014

Applied Physics Letters

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We present the characteristics of superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) fabricated from amorphous Mo 0.75 Ge 0.25 thin-films. Fabricated devices show a saturation of the internal detection efficiency at temperatures below 1 K, with system dark count rates below 500 counts per second. Operation in a Gifford-McMahon (GM) cryocooler at 2.5 K is possible with system detection efficiencies (SDE) exceeding 20% for SNSPDs which have not been optimized for high detection efficiency.

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Efficient Single Photon Detection from 500 nm to 5 μm Wavelength

Cited by 173 publications

References 30 publications

Stable, high-performance operation of a fiber-coupled superconducting nanowire avalanche photon detector

Stable, high-performance operation of a fiber-coupled superconducting nanowire avalanche photon detector

Universal scaling of the critical temperature for thin films near the superconducting-to-insulating transition

Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors fabricated from an amorphous Mo0.75Ge0.25 thin film

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