Abstract: Hot-electron single-photon counters based on long superconducting nanowires are starting to become popular in optical and infrared technologies due to their ultimately high sensitivity and very high response speed. We investigate intrinsic fluctuations in long NbN nanowires in the temperature range of 4.2 K-20 K, i.e. above and below the superconducting transition. These fluctuations are responsible for fluctuation resistivity and also determine the noise in practical devices. Measurements of the fluctuation resistivity were performed at low current densities and also in external magnetic fields up to 5 T. Above the BCS critical temperature T co the resistivity is well described by the Aslamazov-Larkin (AL) theory for two-dimensional samples. Below T co the measured resistivity is in excellent agreement with the Langer-Ambegaokar-McCumber-Halperin (LAMH) theory developed for one-dimensional superconductors. Despite that our nanowires of 100 nm width are two-dimensional with respect to the coherence length, our analysis shows that at relatively low current densities the one-dimensional LAMH mechanism based on thermally induced phase slip centers dominates over the two-dimensional mechanism related to unbinding of vortex-antivortex pairs below the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition.

Abstract: We present our studies on dark counts, observed as transient voltage pulses, in current-biased NbN superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs), as well as in ultrathin (~4 nm), submicrometer-width (100 to 500 nm) NbN nanobridges. The duration of these spontaneous voltage pulses varied from 250 ps to 5 ns, depending on the device geometry, with the longest pulses observed in the large kinetic-inductance SSPD structures. Dark counts were measured while the devices were completely isolated (shielded by a metallic enclosure) from the outside world, in a temperature range between 1.5 and 6 K. Evidence shows that in our two-dimensional structures the dark counts are due to the depairing of vortex-antivortex pairs caused by the applied bias current. Our results shed some light on the vortex dynamics in 2D superconductors and, from the applied point of view, on intrinsic performance of nanostructured SSPDs.

Abstract: We have observed fluctuations, manifested as sub-nanosecond to nanosecond transient, millivolt-amplitude voltage pulses, generated in two-dimensional NbN nanobridges, as well as in extended superconducting meander nanostructures, designed for single photon counting. Both nanobridges and nano-stripe meanders were biased at currents close to the critical current and measured in a range of temperatures from 1.5 to 8 K. During the tests, the devices were blocked from all incoming radiation by a metallic enclosure and shielded from any external magnetic fields. We attribute the observed spontaneous voltage pulses to the Kosterlitz-Thouless-type fluctuations, where the high enough applied bias current reduces the binding energy of vortex-antivortex pairs and, subsequently, thermal fluctuations break them apart causing the order parameter to momentarily reduce to zero, which in turn causes a transient voltage pulse. The duration of the voltage pulses depended on the device geometry (with the high-kinetic inductance meander structures having longer, nanosecond, pulses) while their rate was directly related to the biasing current as well as temperature.

Abstract: We report our time-resolved measurements of NbN-based superconducting single-photon detectors. The structures are meander-type, 10-nm thick, and 200-nm wide stripes and were operated at 4.2 K. We have shown that the NbN devices can count single-photon pulses with below 100-ps time resolution. The response signal pulse width was about 150 ps, and the system jitter was measured to be 35 ps.

Abstract: Photonic quantum technologies allow quantum phenomena to be exploited in applications such as quantum cryptography, quantum simulation and quantum computation. A key requirement for practical devices is the scalable integration of single-photon sources, detectors and linear optical elements on a common platform. Nanophotonic circuits enable the realization of complex linear optical systems, while non-classical light can be measured with waveguide-integrated detectors. However, reproducible single-photon sources with high brightness and compatibility with photonic devices remain elusive for fully integrated systems. Here, we report the observation of antibunching in the light emitted from an electrically driven carbon nanotube embedded within a photonic quantum circuit. Non-classical light generated on chip is recorded under cryogenic conditions with waveguide-integrated superconducting single-photon detectors, without requiring optical filtering. Because exclusively scalable fabrication and deposition methods are used, our results establish carbon nanotubes as promising nanoscale single-photon emitters for hybrid quantum photonic devices.