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Author Kerman, A. J.; Dauler, E. A.; Keicher, W. E.; Yang, J. K. W.; Berggren, K. K.; Gol’tsman, G.; Voronov, B.
Title Kinetic-inductance-limited reset time of superconducting nanowire photon counters Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Appl. Phys. Lett. Abbreviated Journal (up) Appl. Phys. Lett.
Volume 88 Issue 11 Pages 111116 (1 to 3)
Keywords NbN SSPD, SNSPD
Abstract We investigate the recovery of superconducting NbN-nanowire photon counters after detection of an optical pulse at a wavelength of 1550nm, and present a model that quantitatively accounts for our observations. The reset time is found to be limited by the large kinetic inductance of these nanowires, which forces a tradeoff between counting rate and either detection efficiency or active area. Devices of usable size and high detection efficiency are found to have reset times orders of magnitude longer than their intrinsic photoresponse time.

The authors acknowledge D. Oates and W. Oliver (MIT Lincoln Laboratory), S.W. Nam, A. Miller, and R. Hadfield (NIST) and R. Sobolewski, A. Pearlman, and A. Verevkin (University of Rochester) for helpful discussions and technical assistance. This work made use of MIT’s shared scanning-electron-beam-lithography facility in the Research Laboratory of Electronics. This work is sponsored by the United States Air Force under Air Force Contract No. FA8721-05-C-0002. Opinions, interpretations, recommendations and conclusions are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the United States Government.
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Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0003-6951 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1453
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Author Gol’tsman, G. N.; Okunev, O.; Chulkova, G.; Lipatov, A.; Semenov, A.; Smirnov, K.; Voronov, B.; Dzardanov, A.; Williams, C.; Sobolewski, R.
Title Picosecond superconducting single-photon optical detector Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Appl. Phys. Lett. Abbreviated Journal (up) Appl. Phys. Lett.
Volume 79 Issue 6 Pages 705-707
Keywords NbN SSPD, SNSPD
Abstract We experimentally demonstrate a supercurrent-assisted, hotspot-formation mechanism for ultrafast detection and counting of visible and infrared photons. A photon-induced hotspot leads to a temporary formation of a resistive barrier across the superconducting sensor strip and results in an easily measurable voltage pulse. Subsequent hotspot healing in ∼30 ps time frame, restores the superconductivity (zero-voltage state), and the detector is ready to register another photon. Our device consists of an ultrathin, very narrow NbN strip, maintained at 4.2 K and current-biased close to the critical current. It exhibits an experimentally measured quantum efficiency of ∼20% for 0.81 μm wavelength photons and negligible dark counts.
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Corporate Author Thesis
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Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0003-6951 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1543
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Author Shcherbatenko, M.; Elezov, M.; Manova, N.; Sedykh, K.; Korneev, A.; Korneeva, Y.; Dryazgov, M.; Simonov, N.; Feimov, A.; Goltsman, G.; Sych, D.
Title Single-pixel camera with a large-area microstrip superconducting single photon detector on a multimode fiber Type Journal Article
Year 2021 Publication Appl. Phys. Lett. Abbreviated Journal (up) Appl. Phys. Lett.
Volume 118 Issue 18 Pages 181103
Keywords NbN SSPD, SNSPD
Abstract High sensitivity imaging at the level of single photons is an invaluable tool in many areas, ranging from microscopy to astronomy. However, development of single-photon sensitive detectors with high spatial resolution is very non-trivial. Here we employ the single-pixel imaging approach and demonstrate a proof-of-principle single-pixel single-photon imaging setup. We overcome the problem of low light gathering efficiency by developing a large-area microstrip superconducting single photon detector coupled to a multi-mode optical fiber interface. We show that the setup operates well in the visible and near infrared spectrum, and is able to capture images at the single-photon level.

We thank Philipp Zolotov and Pavel Morozov for NbN film fabrication, ARC coating, and fiber coupling of the detector. We also thank Swabian Instruments GmbH and Dr. Helmut Fedder personally for the kindly provided experimental equipment (Time Tagger Ultra 8). The work in the part of SNSPD research and development was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research Project No. 18-29-20100. The work in the part of the optical setup and imaging was supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research Project No. 20-32-51004.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0003-6951 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1770
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Author Lindgren, M.; Currie, M.; Zeng, W.-S.; Sobolewski, R.; Cherednichenko, S.; Voronov, B.; Gol'tsman, G. N.
Title Picosecond response of a superconducting hot-electron NbN photodetector Type Journal Article
Year 1998 Publication Appl. Supercond. Abbreviated Journal (up) Appl. Supercond.
Volume 6 Issue 7-9 Pages 423-428
Keywords NbN SSPD, SNSPD
Abstract The ps optical response of ultrathin NbN photodetectors has been studied by electro-optic sampling. The detectors were fabricated by patterning ultrathin (3.5 nm thick) NbN films deposited on sapphire by reactive magnetron sputtering into either a 5×10 μm2 microbridge or 25 1 μm wide, 5 μm long strips connected in parallel. Both structures were placed at the center of a 4 mm long coplanar waveguide covered with Ti/Au. The photoresponse was studied at temperatures ranging from 2.15 K to 10 K, with the samples biased in the resistive (switched) state and illuminated with 100 fs wide laser pulses at 395 nm wavelength. At T=2.15 K, we obtained an approximately 100 ps wide transient, which corresponds to a NbN detector response time of 45 ps. The photoresponse can be attributed to the nonequilibrium electron heating effect, where the incident radiation increases the temperature of the electron subsystem, while the phonons act as the heat sink. The high-speed response of NbN devices makes them an excellent choice for an optoelectronic interface for superconducting digital circuits, as well as mixers for the terahertz regime. The multiple-strip detector showed a linear dependence on input optical power and a responsivity =3.9 V/W.
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Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0964-1807 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1584
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Author Engel, Andreas; Aeschbacher, Adrian; Inderbitzin, Kevin; Schilling, Andreas; Il'in, Konstantin; Hofherr, Matthias; Siegel, Michael; Semenov, Alexei; Hübers, Heinz-Wilhelm
Title Tantalum nitride superconducting single-photon detectors with low cut-off energy Type Journal Article
Year 2011 Publication arXiv Abbreviated Journal (up) arXiv
Volume Issue Pages 9
Keywords SSPD
Abstract Materials with a small superconducting energy gap favor a high detection efficiency of low-energy photons in superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors. We developed a TaN detector with smaller gap and lower density of states at the Fermi energy than in comparable NbN devices, while other relevant parameters remain essentially unchanged. This results in a reduction of the minimum photon energy required for direct detection to $\approx1/3$ as compared to NbN.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication arXiv:1110.4576 Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
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ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number RPLAB @ gujma @ Serial 687
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Author Dorenbos, S. N.; Heeres, R.W.; Driessen, E.F.C; Zwiller, V.
Title Efficient and robust fiber coupling of superconducting single photon detectors Type Journal Article
Year 2011 Publication arXiv Abbreviated Journal (up) arXiv
Volume Issue Pages 6
Keywords SSPD
Abstract We applied a recently developed fiber coupling technique to superconducting single photon detectors (SSPDs). As the detector area of SSPDs has to be kept as small as possible, coupling to an optical fiber has been either inefficient or unreliable. Etching through the silicon substrate allows fabrication of a circularly shaped chip which self aligns to the core of a ferrule terminated fiber in a fiber sleeve. In situ alignment at cryogenic temperatures is unnecessary and no thermal stress during cooldown, causing misalignment, is induced. We measured the quantum efficiency of these devices with an attenuated tunable broadband source. The combination of a lithographically defined chip and high precision standard telecommunication components yields near unity coupling efficiency and a system detection efficiency of 34% at a wavelength of 1200 nm. This quantum efficiency measurement is confirmed by an absolute efficiency measurement using correlated photon pairs (with $\lambda$ = 1064 nm) produced by spontaneous parametric down-conversion. The efficiency obtained via this method agrees well with the efficiency measured with the attenuated tunable broadband source.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication arXiv:1109.5809 Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
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ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number RPLAB @ gujma @ Serial 689
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Author Pernice, W.; Schuck, C.; Minaeva, O.; Li, M.; Goltsman, G. N.; Sergienko, A. V.; Tang, H. X.
Title High speed and high efficiency travelling wave single-photon detectors embedded in nanophotonic circuits Type Miscellaneous
Year 2012 Publication arXiv Abbreviated Journal (up) arXiv
Volume 1108.5299 Issue Pages 1-23
Keywords optical waveguides, waveguide SSPD, guantum photonics, jitter, detection efficiency
Abstract Ultrafast, high quantum efficiency single photon detectors are among the most sought-after elements in modern quantum optics and quantum communication. High photon detection efficiency is essential for scalable measurement-based quantum computation, quantum key distribution, and loophole-free Bell experiments. However, imperfect modal matching and finite photon absorption rates have usually limited the maximum attainable detection efficiency of single photon detectors. Here we demonstrate a superconducting nanowire detector atop nanophotonic waveguides which allows us to drastically increase the absorption length for incoming photons. When operating the detectors close to the critical current we achieve high on-chip single photon detection efficiency up to 91% at telecom wavelengths, with uncertainty dictated by the variation of the waveguide photon flux. We also observe remarkably low dark count rates without significant compromise of detection efficiency. Furthermore, our detectors are fully embedded in a scalable silicon photonic circuit and provide ultrashort timing jitter of 18ps. Exploiting this high temporal resolution we demonstrate ballistic photon transport in silicon ring resonators. The direct implementation of such a detector with high quantum efficiency, high detection speed and low jitter time on chip overcomes a major barrier in integrated quantum photonics.
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Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 845
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Author Sprengers, J.P.; Gaggero, A.; Sahin, D.; Nejad, S. Jahanmiri; Mattioli, F.; Leoni, R.; Beetz, J.; Lermer, M.; Kamp, M.; Höfling, S.; Sanjines, R.; Fiore A.
Title Waveguide single-photon detectors for integrated quantum photonic circuits Type Conference Article
Year 2011 Publication arXiv Abbreviated Journal (up) arXiv
Volume 1108.5107 Issue Pages 1-11
Keywords optical waveguides, waveguide SSPD
Abstract The generation, manipulation and detection of quantum bits (qubits) encoded on single photons is at the heart of quantum communication and optical quantum information processing. The combination of single-photon sources, passive optical circuits and single-photon detectors enables quantum repeaters and qubit amplifiers, and also forms the basis of all-optical quantum gates and of linear-optics quantum computing. However, the monolithic integration of sources, waveguides and detectors on the same chip, as needed for scaling to meaningful number of qubits, is very challenging, and previous work on quantum photonic circuits has used external sources and detectors. Here we propose an approach to a fully-integrated quantum photonic circuit on a semiconductor chip, and demonstrate a key component of such circuit, a waveguide single-photon detector. Our detectors, based on superconducting nanowires on GaAs ridge waveguides, provide high efficiency (20%) at telecom wavelengths, high timing accuracy (60 ps), response time in the ns range, and are fully compatible with the integration of single-photon sources, passive networks and modulators.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 846
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Author Kahl, O.; Ferrari, S.; Kovalyuk, V.; Vetter, A.; Lewes-Malandrakis, G.; Nebel, C.; Korneev, A.; Goltsman, G.; Pernice, W.
Title Spectrally resolved single-photon imaging with hybrid superconducting – nanophotonic circuits Type Miscellaneous
Year 2016 Publication arXiv Abbreviated Journal (up) arXiv
Volume Issue Pages 1-20
Keywords waiveguide SSPD, SNSPD, imaging
Abstract The detection of individual photons is an inherently binary mechanism, revealing either their absence or presence while concealing their spectral information. For multi-color imaging techniques, such as single photon spectroscopy, fluorescence resonance energy transfer microscopy and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, wavelength discrimination is essential and mandates spectral separation prior to detection. Here, we adopt an approach borrowed from quantum photonic integration to realize a compact and scalable waveguide-integrated single-photon spectrometer capable of parallel detection on multiple wavelength channels, with temporal resolution below 50 ps and dark count rates below 10 Hz. We demonstrate multi-detector devices for telecommunication and visible wavelengths and showcase their performance by imaging silicon vacancy color centers in diamond nanoclusters. The fully integrated hybrid superconducting-nanophotonic circuits enable simultaneous spectroscopy and lifetime mapping for correlative imaging and provide the ingredients for quantum wavelength division multiplexing on a chip.
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Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
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Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1334
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Author Xu, Y.; Zheng, X.; Williams, C.; Verevkin, A.; Sobolewski, R.; Chulkova, G.; Lipatov, A.; Okunev, O.; Smirnov, K.; Gol’tsman, G. N.
Title Ultrafast superconducting hot-electron single-photon detector Type Conference Article
Year 2001 Publication CLEO Abbreviated Journal (up) CLEO
Volume Issue Pages 345
Keywords NbN SSPD, SNSPD
Abstract Summary form only given. The current most-pressing need is to develop a practical, GHz-range counting single-photon detector, operational at either 1.3-/spl mu/m or 1.55-/spl mu/m radiation wavelength, for novel quantum communication and quantum cryptography systems. The presented solution of the problem is to use an ultrafast hot-electron photodetector, based on superconducting thin-film microstructures. This type of device is very promising, due to the macroscopic quantum nature of superconductors. Very fast response time and the small, (meV range) value of the superconducting energy gap characterize the superconductor, leading to the efficient avalanche process even for infrared photons.
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Area Expedition Conference Technical Digest. Summaries of papers presented at the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics. Postconference Technical Digest (IEEE Cat. No.01CH37170)
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1545
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