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Author |
Sobolewski, R.; Verevkin, A.; Gol'tsman, G.N.; Lipatov, A.; Wilsher, K. |
Title |
Ultrafast superconducting single-photon optical detectors and their applications |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2003 |
Publication |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
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Volume |
13 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
1151-1157 |
Keywords |
NbN SSPD, SNSPD |
Abstract |
We present a new class of ultrafast single-photon detectors for counting both visible and infrared photons. The detection mechanism is based on photon-induced hotspot formation, which forces the supercurrent redistribution and leads to the appearance of a transient resistive barrier across an ultrathin, submicrometer-width, superconducting stripe. The devices were fabricated from 3.5-nm- and 10-nm-thick NbN films, patterned into <200-nm-wide stripes in the 4 /spl times/ 4-/spl mu/m/sup 2/ or 10 /spl times/ 10-/spl mu/m/sup 2/ meander-type geometry, and operated at 4.2 K, well below the NbN critical temperature (T/sub c/=10-11 K). Continuous-wave and pulsed-laser optical sources in the 400-nm-to 3500-nm-wavelength range were used to determine the detector performance in the photon-counting mode. Experimental quantum efficiency was found to exponentially depend on the photon wavelength, and for our best, 3.5-nm-thick, 100-/spl mu/m/sup 2/-area devices varied from >10% for 405-nm radiation to 3.5% for 1550-nm photons. The detector response time and jitter were /spl sim/100 ps and 35 ps, respectively, and were acquisition system limited. The dark counts were below 0.01 per second at optimal biasing. In terms of the counting rate, jitter, and dark counts, the NbN single-photon detectors significantly outperform their semiconductor counterparts. Already-identified applications for our devices range from noncontact testing of semiconductor CMOS VLSI circuits to free-space quantum cryptography and communications. |
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1051-8223 |
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509 |
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Gol'tsman, G.; Minaeva, O.; Korneev, A.; Tarkhov, M.; Rubtsova, I.; Divochiy, A.; Milostnaya, I.; Chulkova, G.; Kaurova, N.; Voronov, B.; Pan, D.; Kitaygorsky, J.; Cross, A.; Pearlman, A.; Komissarov, I.; Slysz, W.; Wegrzecki, M.; Grabiec, P.; Sobolewski, R. |
Title |
Middle-infrared to visible-light ultrafast superconducting single-photon detectors |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2007 |
Publication |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
Abbreviated Journal |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
Volume |
17 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
246-251 |
Keywords |
SSPD, SNSPD |
Abstract |
We present an overview of the state-of-the-art of NbN superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs). Our devices exhibit quantum efficiency (QE) of up to 30% in near-infrared wavelength and 0.4% at 5 mum, with a dark-count rate that can be as low as 10 -4 s -1 . The SSPD structures integrated with lambda/4 microcavities achieve a QE of 60% at telecommunication, 1550-nm wavelength. We have also developed a new generation of SSPDs that possess the QE of large-active-area devices, but, simultaneously, are characterized by low kinetic inductance that allows achieving short response times and the GHz-counting rate with picosecond timing jitter. The improvements presented in the SSPD development, such as fiber-coupled SSPDs, make our detectors most attractive for high-speed quantum communications and quantum computing. |
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1051-8223 |
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431 |
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Kitaygorsky, J.; Komissarov, I.; Jukna, A.; Pan, D.; Minaeva, O.; Kaurova, N.; Divochiy, A.; Korneev, A.; Tarkhov, M.; Voronov, B.; Milostnaya, I.; Gol'tsman, G.; Sobolewski, R.R. |
Title |
Dark counts in nanostructured nbn superconducting single-photon detectors and bridges |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2007 |
Publication |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
Abbreviated Journal |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
Volume |
17 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
275-278 |
Keywords |
SSPD; SNSPD |
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. |
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1051-8223 |
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1248 |
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Il'in, K. S.; Currie, M.; Lindgren, M.; Milostnaya, I. I.; Verevkin, A. A.; Gol'tsman, G. N.; Sobolewski, R. |
Title |
Quantum efficiency and time-domain response of superconducting NbN hot-electron photodetectors |
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Journal Article |
Year |
1999 |
Publication |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
Abbreviated Journal |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
Volume |
9 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
3338-3341 |
Keywords |
NbN SSPD, SNSPD |
Abstract |
We report our studies on the response of ultrathin superconducting NbN hot-electron photodetectors. We have measured the photoresponse of few-nm-thick, micron-size structures, which consisted of single and multiple microbridges, to radiation from the continuous-wave semiconductor laser and the femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser with the wavelength of 790 nm and 400 nm, respectively. The maximum responsivity was observed near the film's superconducting transition with the device optimally current-biased in the resistive state. The responsivity of the detector, normalized to its illuminated area and the coupling factor, was 220 A/W(3/spl times/10/sup 4/ V/W), which corresponded to a quantum efficiency of 340. The responsivity was wavelength independent from the far infrared to the ultraviolet range, and was at least two orders of magnitude higher than comparable semiconductor optical detectors. The time constant of the photoresponse signal was 45 ps, when was measured at 2.15 K in the resistive (switched) state using a cryogenic electro-optical sampling technique with subpicosecond resolution. The obtained results agree very well with our calculations performed using a two-temperature model of the electron heating in thin superconducting films. |
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1051-8223 |
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1566 |
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Reiger, E.; Pan, D.; Slysz, W.; Jukna, A.; Sobolewski, R.; Dorenbos, S.; Zwiller, V.; Korneev, A.; Chulkova, G.; Milostnaya, I.; Minaeva, O.; Gol'tsman, G.; Kitaygorsky, J. |
Title |
Spectroscopy with nanostructured superconducting single photon detectors |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2007 |
Publication |
IEEE J. Select. Topics Quantum Electron. |
Abbreviated Journal |
IEEE J. Select. Topics Quantum Electron. |
Volume |
13 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
934-943 |
Keywords |
SSPD, SNSPD |
Abstract |
Superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs) are nanostructured devices made from ultrathin superconducting films. They are typically operated at liquid helium temperature and exhibit high detection efficiency, in combination with very low dark counts, fast response time, and extremely low timing jitter, within a broad wavelength range from ultraviolet to mid-infrared (up to 6 mu m). SSPDs are very attractive for applications such as fiber-based telecommunication, where single-photon sensitivity and high photon-counting rates are required. We review the current state-of-the-art in the SSPD research and development, and compare the SSPD performance to the best semiconducting avalanche photodiodes and other superconducting photon detectors. Furthermore, we demonstrate that SSPDs can also be successfully implemented in photon-energy-resolving experiments. Our approach is based on the fact that the size of the hotspot, a nonsuperconducting region generated upon photon absorption, is linearly dependent on the photon energy. We introduce a statistical method, where, by measuring the SSPD system detection efficiency at different bias currents, we are able to resolve the wavelength of the incident photons with a resolution of 50 nm. |
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1077-260X |
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1424 |
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