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Low-noise single-photon counting superconducting nanowire detectors at infrared wavelengths up to 29 $μ$m
Authors:
Gregor G. Taylor,
Alexander B. Walter,
Boris Korzh,
Bruce Bumble,
Sahil R. Patel,
Jason P. Allmaras,
Andrew D. Beyer,
Roger O'Brient,
Matthew D. Shaw,
Emma E. Wollman
Abstract:
We report on the extension of the spectral sensitivity of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors to a wavelength of 29 $μ$m. This represents the first demonstration of a time correlated single-photon counting detector at these long infrared wavelengths. We achieve saturated internal detection efficiency from 10 to 29 $μ$m, whilst maintaining dark count rates below 0.1 counts per second.…
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We report on the extension of the spectral sensitivity of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors to a wavelength of 29 $μ$m. This represents the first demonstration of a time correlated single-photon counting detector at these long infrared wavelengths. We achieve saturated internal detection efficiency from 10 to 29 $μ$m, whilst maintaining dark count rates below 0.1 counts per second. Extension of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors to this spectral range provides low noise and high timing resolution photon counting detection, effectively providing a new class of single-photon sensitive detector for these wavelengths. These detectors are important for applications such as exoplanet spectroscopy, infrared astrophysics, physical chemistry, remote sensing and direct dark-matter detection.
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Submitted 29 August, 2023;
originally announced August 2023.
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A superconducting-nanowire single-photon camera with 400,000 pixels
Authors:
Bakhrom G. Oripov,
Dana S. Rampini,
Jason Allmaras,
Matthew D. Shaw,
Sae Woo Nam,
Boris Korzh,
Adam N. McCaughan
Abstract:
For the last 50 years, superconducting detectors have offered exceptional sensitivity and speed for detecting faint electromagnetic signals in a wide range of applications. These detectors operate at very low temperatures and generate a minimum of excess noise, making them ideal for testing the non-local nature of reality, investigating dark matter, mapping the early universe, and performing quant…
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For the last 50 years, superconducting detectors have offered exceptional sensitivity and speed for detecting faint electromagnetic signals in a wide range of applications. These detectors operate at very low temperatures and generate a minimum of excess noise, making them ideal for testing the non-local nature of reality, investigating dark matter, mapping the early universe, and performing quantum computation and communication. Despite their appealing properties, however, there are currently no large-scale superconducting cameras - even the largest demonstrations have never exceeded 20 thousand pixels. This is especially true for one of the most promising detector technologies, the superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD). These detectors have been demonstrated with system detection efficiencies of 98.0%, sub-3-ps timing jitter, sensitivity from the ultraviolet (250nm) to the mid-infrared (10um), and dark count rates below 6.2e-6 counts per second (cps), but despite more than two decades of development they have never achieved an array size larger than a kilopixel. Here, we report on the implementation and characterization of a 400,000 pixel SNSPD camera, a factor of 400 improvement over the previous state-of-the-art. The array spanned an area 4x2.5 mm with a 5x5um resolution, reached unity quantum efficiency at wavelengths of 370 nm and 635 nm, counted at a rate of 1.1e5 cps, and had a dark count rate of 1e-4 cps per detector (corresponding to 0.13 cps over the whole array). The imaging area contains no ancillary circuitry and the architecture is scalable well beyond the current demonstration, paving the way for large-format superconducting cameras with 100% fill factors and near-unity detection efficiencies across a vast range of the electromagnetic spectrum.
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Submitted 15 June, 2023;
originally announced June 2023.
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The thermally-coupled imager: A scalable readout architecture for superconducting nanowire single photon detectors
Authors:
Adam N. McCaughan,
Yao Zhai,
Boris Korzh,
Jason P. Allmaras,
Bakhrom G. Oripov,
Matthew D. Shaw,
Sae Woo Nam
Abstract:
Although superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) are a promising technology for quantum optics, metrology, and astronomy, they currently lack a readout architecture that is scalable to the megapixel regime and beyond. In this work, we have designed and demonstrated such an architecture for SNSPDs, called the thermally-coupled imager (TCI). The TCI uses a combination of time-of-fl…
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Although superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) are a promising technology for quantum optics, metrology, and astronomy, they currently lack a readout architecture that is scalable to the megapixel regime and beyond. In this work, we have designed and demonstrated such an architecture for SNSPDs, called the thermally-coupled imager (TCI). The TCI uses a combination of time-of-flight delay lines and thermal coupling to create a scalable architecture that can scale to large array sizes, allows neighboring detectors to operate independently, and requires only four microwave readout lines to operate no matter the size of the array. We give an overview of how the architecture functions, and demonstrate a proof-of-concept $32\times32$ imaging array. The array was able to image a free-space focused spot at 373 nm, count at 9.6 Mcps, and resolve photon location with greater than 99.83\% distinguishability.
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Submitted 9 December, 2021;
originally announced December 2021.
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Intrinsically-limited timing jitter in molybdenum silicide superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors
Authors:
Misael Caloz,
Boris Korzh,
Edward Ramirez,
Christian Schönenberger,
Richard J. Warburton,
Hugo Zbinden,
Matthew D. Shaw,
Félix Bussières
Abstract:
Recent progress in the development of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) has delivered excellent performances, and has had a great impact on a range of research fields. The timing jitter, which denotes the temporal resolution of the detection, is a crucial parameter for many applications. Despite extensive work since their apparition, the lowest jitter achievable with SNSPDs…
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Recent progress in the development of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) has delivered excellent performances, and has had a great impact on a range of research fields. The timing jitter, which denotes the temporal resolution of the detection, is a crucial parameter for many applications. Despite extensive work since their apparition, the lowest jitter achievable with SNSPDs is still not clear, and the origin of the intrinsic limits is not fully understood. Understanding its intrinsic behaviour and limits is a mandatory step toward improvements. Here, we report our experimental study on the intrinsically-limited timing jitter in molybdenum silicide (MoSi) SNSPDs. We show that to reach intrinsic jitter, several detector properties such as the latching current and the kinetic inductance of the devices have to be understood. The dependence on the nanowire cross-section and the energy dependence of the intrinsic jitter are exhibited, and the origin of the limits are explicited. System timing jitter of 6.0 ps at 532 nm and 10.6 ps at 1550 nm photon wavelength have been obtained.
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Submitted 5 June, 2019;
originally announced June 2019.
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Determining the depairing current in superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors
Authors:
S. Frasca,
B. Korzh,
M. Colangelo,
D. Zhu,
A. E. Lita,
J. P. Allmaras,
E. E. Wollman,
V. B. Verma,
A. E. Dane,
E. Ramirez,
A. D. Beyer,
S. W. Nam,
A. G. Kozorezov,
M. D. Shaw,
K. K. Berggren
Abstract:
We estimate the depairing current of superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) by studying the dependence of the nanowires kinetic inductance on their bias current. The kinetic inductance is determined by measuring the resonance frequency of resonator style nanowire coplanar waveguides both in transmission and reflection configurations. Bias current dependent shifts in the measured…
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We estimate the depairing current of superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) by studying the dependence of the nanowires kinetic inductance on their bias current. The kinetic inductance is determined by measuring the resonance frequency of resonator style nanowire coplanar waveguides both in transmission and reflection configurations. Bias current dependent shifts in the measured resonant frequency correspond to the change in the kinetic inductance, which can be compared with theoretical predictions. We demonstrate that the fast relaxation model described in the literature accurately matches our experimental data and provides a valuable tool for direct determination of the depairing current. Accurate and direct measurement of the depairing current is critical for nanowire quality analysis, as well as modeling efforts aimed at understanding the detection mechanism in SNSPDs.
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Submitted 18 April, 2019;
originally announced April 2019.
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Demonstrating sub-3 ps temporal resolution in a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector
Authors:
B. A. Korzh,
Q-Y. Zhao,
S. Frasca,
J. P. Allmaras,
T. M. Autry,
E. A. Bersin,
M. Colangelo,
G. M. Crouch,
A. E. Dane,
T. Gerrits,
F. Marsili,
G. Moody,
E. Ramirez,
J. D. Rezac,
M. J. Stevens,
E. E. Wollman,
D. Zhu,
P. D. Hale,
K. L. Silverman,
R. P. Mirin,
S. W. Nam,
M. D. Shaw,
K. K. Berggren
Abstract:
Improving the temporal resolution of single photon detectors has an impact on many applications, such as increased data rates and transmission distances for both classical and quantum optical communication systems, higher spatial resolution in laser ranging and observation of shorter-lived fluorophores in biomedical imaging. In recent years, superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs…
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Improving the temporal resolution of single photon detectors has an impact on many applications, such as increased data rates and transmission distances for both classical and quantum optical communication systems, higher spatial resolution in laser ranging and observation of shorter-lived fluorophores in biomedical imaging. In recent years, superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) have emerged as the highest efficiency time-resolving single-photon counting detectors available in the near infrared. As the detection mechanism in SNSPDs occurs on picosecond time scales, SNSPDs have been demonstrated with exquisite temporal resolution below 15 ps. We reduce this value to 2.7$\pm$0.2 ps at 400 nm and 4.6$\pm$0.2 ps at 1550 nm, using a specialized niobium nitride (NbN) SNSPD. The observed photon-energy dependence of the temporal resolution and detection latency suggests that intrinsic effects make a significant contribution.
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Submitted 18 April, 2018;
originally announced April 2018.
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High-detection efficiency and low-timing jitter with amorphous superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors
Authors:
Misael Caloz,
Matthieu Perrenoud,
Claire Autebert,
Boris Korzh,
Markus Weiss,
Christian Schönenberger,
Richard J. Warburton,
Hugo Zbinden,
Félix Bussières
Abstract:
Recent progress in the development of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) made of amorphous material has delivered excellent performances, and has had a great impact on a range of research fields. Despite showing the highest system detection efficiency (SDE) ever reported with SNSPDs, amorphous materials typically lead to lower critical currents, which impacts on their jitter…
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Recent progress in the development of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) made of amorphous material has delivered excellent performances, and has had a great impact on a range of research fields. Despite showing the highest system detection efficiency (SDE) ever reported with SNSPDs, amorphous materials typically lead to lower critical currents, which impacts on their jitter performance. Combining a very low jitter and a high SDE remains a challenge. Here, we report on highly efficient superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors based on amorphous MoSi, combining system jitters as low as 26 ps and a SDE of 80% at 1550 nm. We also report detailed observations on the jitter behaviour, which hints at intrinsic limitations and leads to practical implications for SNSPD performance.
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Submitted 6 February, 2018; v1 submitted 18 October, 2017;
originally announced October 2017.
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Optically probing the detection mechanism in a molybdenum silicide superconducting nanowire single-photon detector
Authors:
Misael Caloz,
Boris Korzh,
Nuala Timoney,
Markus Weiss,
Stefano Gariglio,
Richard J. Warburton,
Christian Schönenberger,
Jelmer Renema,
Hugo Zbinden,
Felix Bussieres
Abstract:
We experimentally investigate the detection mechanism in a meandered molybdenum silicide (MoSi) superconducting nanowire single-photon detector by characterising the detection probability as a function of bias current in the wavelength range of 750 to 2050 nm. Contrary to some previous observations on niobium nitride (NbN) or tungsten silicide (WSi) detectors, we find that the energy-current relat…
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We experimentally investigate the detection mechanism in a meandered molybdenum silicide (MoSi) superconducting nanowire single-photon detector by characterising the detection probability as a function of bias current in the wavelength range of 750 to 2050 nm. Contrary to some previous observations on niobium nitride (NbN) or tungsten silicide (WSi) detectors, we find that the energy-current relation is nonlinear in this range. Furthermore, thanks to the presence of a saturated detection efficiency over the whole range of wavelengths, we precisely quantify the shape of the curves. This allows a detailed study of their features, which are indicative of both Fano fluctuations and position-dependent effects.
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Submitted 24 November, 2016;
originally announced November 2016.
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High-efficiency WSi superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors operating at 2.5 K
Authors:
V. B. Verma,
B. Korzh,
F. Bussières,
R. D. Horansky,
A. E. Lita,
F. Marsili,
M. D. Shaw,
H. Zbinden,
R. P. Mirin,
S. W. Nam
Abstract:
We investigate the operation of WSi superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) at 2.5 K, a temperature which is ~ 70 % of the superconducting transition temperature (TC) of 3.4 K. We demonstrate saturation of the system detection efficiency at 78 +- 2 % with a jitter of 191 ps. We find that the jitter at 2.5 K is limited by the noise of the readout, and can be improved through the u…
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We investigate the operation of WSi superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) at 2.5 K, a temperature which is ~ 70 % of the superconducting transition temperature (TC) of 3.4 K. We demonstrate saturation of the system detection efficiency at 78 +- 2 % with a jitter of 191 ps. We find that the jitter at 2.5 K is limited by the noise of the readout, and can be improved through the use of cryogenic amplifiers. Operation of SNSPDs with high efficiency at temperatures very close to TC appears to be a unique property of amorphous WSi.
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Submitted 6 June, 2014;
originally announced June 2014.