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Seki T, Shibata H, Takesue H, Tokura Y, Imoto N. Comparison of timing jitter between NbN superconducting single-photon detector and avalanche photodiode. Phys C. 2010;470(20):1534–7.
Abstract: We report the pulse-to-pulse timing jitter measurement of a niobium nitride (NbN) superconducting single-photon detector (SSPD) and an InGaAs avalanche photodiode (APD) at 1550-nm wavelength. A direct comparison of their timing jitter was performed by using the same experimental configuration to measure both detectors. The measured jitter of the SSPD and the APD are 75 and 84 ps at full-width at half-maximum (FWHM), and 138 and 384 ps at full-width at tenth-maximum (FWTM), respectively. The jitter of the SSPD remains small at FWTM while that of APD is wide. We also estimated the transmission distances and secure key generation rates for fiber-based quantum key distribution (QKD) which uses these detectors. The estimated transmission distances of the APD are 86 km and 107 km with respect to 1 ns and 100 ps time windows, respectively, and those of the SSPD are 125 km and 172 km with respect to 1 ns and 100 ps time windows, respectively. This estimation indicates the SSPDЃfs advantages for QKD compared to the APD.
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Братман ВЛ, Литвак АГ, Суворов ЕВ. Освоение терагерцевого диапазона: источники и приложения. Успехи физ наук. 2010;181(8):867–874.
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Annunziata AJ, Quaranta O, Santavicca DF, Casaburi A, Frunzio L, Ejrnaes M, et al. Reset dynamics and latching in niobium superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors. J. Appl. Phys.. 2010;108(8):7.
Abstract: We study the reset dynamics of niobium (Nb) superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) using experimental measurements and numerical simulations. The numerical simulations of the detection dynamics agree well with experimental measurements, using independently determined parameters in the simulations. We find that if the photon-induced hotspot cools too slowly, the device will latch into a dc resistive state. To avoid latching, the time for the hotspot to cool must be short compared to the inductive time constant that governs the resetting of the current in the device after hotspot formation. From simulations of the energy relaxation process, we find that the hotspot cooling time is determined primarily by the temperature-dependent electron-phonon inelastic time. Latching prevents reset and precludes subsequent photon detection. Fast resetting to the superconducting state is, therefore, essential, and we demonstrate experimentally how this is achieved. We compare our results to studies of reset and latching in niobium nitride SNSPDs.
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Maingault L, Tarkhov M, Florya I, Semenov A, Espiau de Lamaëstre R, Cavalier P, et al. Spectral dependency of superconducting single photon detectors. J Appl Phys. 2010;107(11):116103 (1 to 3).
Abstract: We investigate the effect of varying both incoming optical wavelength and width of NbN nanowires on the superconducting single photon detectors (SSPD) detection efficiency. The SSPD are current biased close to critical value and temperature fixed at 4.2 K, far from transition. The experimental results are found to verify with a good accuracy predictions based on the “hot spot model,” whose size scales with the absorbed photon energy. With larger optical power inducing multiphoton detection regime, the same scaling law remains valid, up to the three-photon regime. We demonstrate the validity of applying a limited number of measurements and using such a simple model to reasonably predict any SSPD behavior among a collection of nanowire device widths at different photon wavelengths. These results set the basis for designing efficient single photon detectors operating in the infrared (2–5 μm range).
This work was supported by European projects FP6 STREP “SINPHONIA” (Contract No. NMP4-CT-2005-16433) and IP “QAP” (Contract No. 15848).
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Terai H, Miki S, Yamashita T, Makise K, Wang Z. Demonstration of single-flux-quantum readout operation for superconducting single-photon detectors. Appl Phys Lett. 2010;97(11):3.
Abstract: A readout circuit using superconducting single-flux-quantum (SFQ) circuits has been developed to realize an independently addressable array of superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs). We tested the SFQ readout circuits by connecting with SSPDs. The error rates of readout circuits were below 10–5 for input signal amplitude of greater than 18.2 μA. Detection efficiencies (DEs) for single-photon incidents were measured both with and without the connection of a readout circuit. The observed DEs traced almost the same curves regardless of the connection of the readout circuit, except that the SSPD is likely to latch by connecting the readout circuit.
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