Abstract: We present our progress on the research and development of NbN superconducting single‐photon detectors (SSPD's) for ultrafast counting of near‐infrared photons for secure quantum communications. Our SSPD's operate in the quantum detection mode based on the photon‐induced hotspot formation and subsequent development of a transient resistive barrier across an ultrathin and submicron‐width superconducting stripe. The devices are fabricated from 4‐nm‐thick NbN films and kept in the 4.2‐ to 2‐K temperature range. The detector experimental quantum efficiency in the photon‐counting mode reaches above 40% for the visible light and up to 30% in the 1.3‐ to 1.55‐µm wavelength range with dark counts below 0.01 per second. The experimental real‐time counting rate is above 2 GHz and is limited by our readout electronics. The SSPD's timing jitter is below 18 ps, and the best‐measured value of the noise‐equivalent power (NEP) is 5 × 10–21 W/Hz1/2 at 1.3 µm. In terms of quantum efficiency, timing jitter, and maximum counting rate, our NbN SSPD's significantly outperform semiconductor avalanche photodiodes and photomultipliers in the 1.3‐ to 1.55‐µm range.

Abstract: We present our studies on quantum efficiency (QE), dark counts, and noise equivalent power (NEP) of the latest generation of nanostructured NbN superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs) operated at 2.0 K. Our SSPDs are based on 4 nm-thick NbN films, patterned by electron beam lithography as highly-uniform 100÷120-nm-wide meander-shaped stripes, covering the total area of 10x10 μm² with the meander filling factor of 0.7. Advances in the fabrication process and low-temperature operation lead to QE as high as  30-40% for visible-light photons (0.56 μm wavelength)-the saturation value, limited by optical absorption of the NbN film. For 1.55 μm photons, QE was  20% and decreased exponentially with the wavelength reaching  0.02% at the 5-μm wavelength. Being operated at 2.0-K temperature the SSPDs revealed an exponential decrease of the dark count rate, what along with the high QE, resulted in the NEP as low as 5x10^-21 W/Hz^-1/2, the lowest value ever reported for near-infrared optical detectors. The SSPD counting rate was measured to be above 1 GHz with the pulse-to-pulse jitter below 20 ps. Our nanostructured NbN SSPDs operated at 2.0 K significantly outperform their semiconducting counterparts and find practical applications ranging from noninvasive testing of CMOS VLSI integrated circuits to ultrafast quantum communications and quantum cryptography.

Abstract: We present our studies on ultrafast superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs) based on ultrathin NbN nanostructures. Our SSPDs are patterned by electron beam lithography from 4-nm thick NbN film into meander-shaped strips covering square area of 10/spl times/10 /spl mu/m/sup 2/. The advances in the fabrication technology allowed us to produce highly uniform 100-120-nm-wide strips with meander filling factor close to 0.6. The detectors exploit a combined detection mechanism, where upon a single-photon absorption, an avalanche of excited hot electrons and the biasing supercurrent, jointly produce a picosecond voltage transient response across the superconducting nanostrip. The SSPDs are typically operated at 4.2 K, but they have shown that their sensitivity in the infrared radiation range can be significantly improved by lowering the operating temperature from 4.2 K to 2 K. When operated at 2 K, the SSPD quantum efficiency (QE) for visible light photons reaches 30-40%, which is the saturation value limited by optical absorption of our 4-nm-thick NbN film. For 1.55 /spl mu/m photons, QE was /spl sim/20% and decreases exponentially with the increase of the optical wavelength, but even at the wavelength of 6 /spl mu/m the detector remains sensitive to single photons and exhibits QE of about 10/sup -2/%. The dark (false) count rate at 2 K is as low as 2 /spl times/ 10/sup -4/ s/sup -1/, what makes our detector essentially a background-limited sensor. The very low dark-count rate results in the noise equivalent power (NEP) as low as 10/sup -18/ WHz/sup -1/2/ for the mid-infrared range (6 /spl mu/m). Further improvement of the SSPD performance in the mid-infrared range can be obtained by substituting NbN for the other, lower-T/sub c/ superconductors with the narrow superconducting gap and low quasiparticle diffusivity. The use of such materials will shift the cutoff wavelength towards the values even longer than 6 /spl mu/m.