Characterize the Speed of a Photon-Number-Resolving Superconducting Nanowire Detector

Xu Tao; Hao Hao; Xiang Li; Shi Chen; Libo Wang; Xuecou Tu; Xiaoqing Jia; Labao Zhang; Qingyuan Zhao; Lin Kang; Peiheng Wu

doi:10.1109/JPHOT.2020.3012349

IEEE Photonics Journal (Jan 2020)

Characterize the Speed of a Photon-Number-Resolving Superconducting Nanowire Detector

Xu Tao,
Hao Hao,
Xiang Li,
Shi Chen,
Libo Wang,
Xuecou Tu,
Xiaoqing Jia,
Labao Zhang,
Qingyuan Zhao,
Lin Kang,
Peiheng Wu

Affiliations

Xu Tao: ORCiD; Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Hao Hao: Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Xiang Li: Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Shi Chen: Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Libo Wang: Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Xuecou Tu: ORCiD; Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Xiaoqing Jia: ORCiD; Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Labao Zhang: ORCiD; Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Qingyuan Zhao: ORCiD; Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Lin Kang: ORCiD; Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Peiheng Wu: Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics (RISE), School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOT.2020.3012349
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 12, no. 4
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

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Superconducting series nanowire single-photon detectors (SNDs) have been used for resolving photon numbers. But it can also exhibit a higher counting rate than a single superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD), because the serial architecture allows multiple detectors working in parallel and the inductance of each pixel is reduced. In this paper, we found each pixel of the SND could reset fast although the whole detector took a much longer time for recovering. Therefore, the speed of an SND with a large kinetic inductance of 1.25 μH was characterized and compared to a standard SNSPD with the same total inductance. By measuring the detected photon rate over the input photon rate, we obtained a photon counting rate enhancement by 7.5 times. Meanwhile, the timing jitter of the SND was 63 ps at single photon detection regime. Our results show that the series structure and the readout scheme are quite practical in realizing high speed single-photon detectors besides resolving photon numbers.

Published in IEEE Photonics Journal

ISSN: 1943-0655 (Online)
Publisher: IEEE
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Technology: Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General): Applied optics. Photonics; Science: Physics: Optics. Light
Website: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=4563994

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