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Improving the temporal resolution of single photon detectors has an impact on many applications 1 , such as increased data rates and transmission distances for both classical 2 and quantum 3-5 optical communication systems, higher spatial resolution in laser ranging and observation of shorter-lived fluorophores in biomedical imaging 6 . In recent years, superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors 7,8 (SNSPDs) have emerged as the highest efficiency time-resolving single-photon counting detectors available in the near infrared 9 . As the detection mechanism in SNSPDs occurs on picosecond time scales 10 , SNSPDs have been demonstrated with exquisite temporal resolution below 15 ps [11][12][13][14][15] . We reduce this value to 2.7±0.2 ps at 400 nm and 4.6±0.2 ps at 1550 nm, using a specialized niobium nitride (NbN) SNSPD. The observed photon-energy dependence of the temporal resolution and detection latency suggests that intrinsic effects make a significant contribution.Temporal resolution in SNSPDs, commonly referred to as jitter, is characterized by the width of the temporal distribution of signal outputs with respect to the photon arrival times. This statistical distribution is known as the instrument response function (IRF), and its width is commonly evaluated as

Quantum teleportation1 is a cornerstone of quantum information science due to its essential role in important tasks such as the long-distance transmission of quantum information using quantum repeaters2, 3. This requires the efficient distribution of entanglement between remote nodes of a network4. Here, we demonstrate quantum teleportation of the polarization state of a telecom-wavelength photon onto the state of a solid-state quantum memory. Entanglement is established between a rare-earth-ion-doped crystal storing a single photon that is polarization-entangled with a flying telecom-wavelength photon5, 6. The latter is jointly measured with another flying polarization qubit to be teleported, which heralds the teleportation. The fidelity of the qubit retrieved from the memory is shown to be greater than the maximum fidelity achievable without entanglement, even when the combined distances travelled by the two flying qubits is 25 km of standard optical fibre. Our results demonstrate the possibility of long-distance quantum networks with solid-state resources

were charged to identify the scientific and community needs, opportunities, and significant challenges for quantum interconnects over the next 2-5 years.

We present a compactly integrated, 625 MHz clocked coherent one-way quantum key distribution system which continuously distributes secret keys over an optical fibre link. To support high secret key rates, we implemented a fast hardware key distillation engine which allows for key distillation rates up to 4 Mbps in real time. The system employs wavelength multiplexing in order to run over only a single optical fibre. Using fast gated InGaAs single photon detectors, we reliably distribute secret keys with a rate above 21 kbps over 25 km of optical fibre. We optimized the system considering a security analysis that respects finite-keysize effects, authentication costs and system errors for a security parameter of ε QKD = 4 × 10 −9 .

We report on MoSi SNSPDs which achieved high system detection efficiency (87.1 ± 0.5% at 1542 nm) at 0.7 K and we demonstrate that these detectors can also be operated with saturated internal efficiency at a temperature of 2.3 K in a Gifford-McMahon cryocooler. We measured a minimum system jitter of 76 ps, maximum count rate approaching 10 MHz, and polarization dependence as low as 3.3 ± 0.1%. The performance of MoSi SNSPDs at 2.3 K is similar to the performance of WSi SNSPDs at < 1 K. The higher operating temperature of MoSi SNSPDs makes these devices promising for widespread use due to the simpler and less expensive cryogenics required for their operation. Sobolewski, "Response time characterization of NbN superconducting single-photon detectors," IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 13(2), 180-183 (2003). 11. H. Takesue, S. W. Nam, Q. Zhang, R. H. Hadfield, T. Honjo, K. Tamaki, and Y. Yamamoto, "Quantum key distribution over a 40-dB channel loss using superconducting single-photon detectors," Nat. Photonics 1(6), 343-348 (2007

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For photon-counting applications at ultraviolet wavelengths, there are currently no detectors that combine high efficiency (> 50%), sub-nanosecond timing resolution, and sub-Hz dark count rates. Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) have seen success over the past decade for photon-counting applications in the near-infrared, but little work has been done to optimize SNSPDs for wavelengths below 400 nm. Here, we describe the design, fabrication, and characterization of UV SNSPDs operating at wavelengths between 250 and 370 nm. The detectors have active areas up to 56 μm in diameter, 70 - 80% efficiency at temperatures up to 4.2 K, timing resolution down to 60 ps FWHM, blindness to visible and infrared photons, and dark count rates of ∼ 0.25 counts/hr for a 56 μm diameter pixel. These performance metrics make UV SNSPDs ideal for applications in trapped-ion quantum information processing, lidar studies of the upper atmosphere, UV fluorescent-lifetime imaging microscopy, and photon-starved UV astronomy.