%0 Journal Article
%T Ultrafast superconducting single-photon detectors for near-infrared-wavelength quantum communications
%A Verevkin, A.
%A Pearlman, A.
%A Slysz, W.
%A Zhang, J.
%A Currie, M.
%A Korneev, A.
%A Chulkova, G.
%A Okunev, O.
%A Kouminov, P.
%A Smirnov, K.
%A Voronov, B.
%A Gol'tsman, G. N.
%A Sobolewski, R.
%J J. Modern Opt.
%D 2004
%V 51
%N 9-10
%@ 0950-0340
%F Verevkin_etal2004
%O exported from refbase (https://db.rplab.ru/refbase/show.php?record=1488), last updated on Tue, 18 May 2021 12:01:54 -0500
%X The paper reports progress on the design and development of niobium-nitride, superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs) for ultrafast counting of near-infrared photons for secure quantum communications. The SSPDs operate in the quantum detection mode, based on photon-induced hotspot formation and subsequent appearance of a transient resistive barrier across an ultrathin and submicron-width superconducting stripe. The devices are fabricated from 3.5 nm thick NbN films and kept at cryogenic (liquid helium) temperatures inside a cryostat. The detector experimental quantum efficiency in the photon-counting mode reaches above 20% in the visible radiation range and up to 10% at the 1.3–1.55 μn infrared range. The dark counts are below 0.01 per second. The measured real-time counting rate is above 2 GHz and is limited by readout electronics (the intrinsic response time is below 30 ps). The SSPD jitter is below 18 ps, and the best-measured value of the noise-equivalent power (NEP) is 2 × 10−18 W/Hz1/2. at 1.3 μm. In terms of photon-counting efficiency and speed, these NbN SSPDs significantly outperform semiconductor avalanche photodiodes and photomultipliers.
%K NbN SSPD
%K SNSPD
%R 10.1080/09500340408235284
%U https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09500340408235284
%U https://doi.org/10.1080/09500340408235284
%P 1447-1458