Modeling the Electrical and Thermal Response of Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors

Yang, Joel K. W.; Kerman, Andrew J.; Dauler, Eric A.; Anant, Vikas; Rosfjord, Kristine M.; Berggren, Karl K.

doi:10.1109/tasc.2007.898660

Cited by 201 publications

(196 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The absorption of one or more photons in a superconducting nanowire drives part of the nanowire to the normal state with a resistance of the order of several kilohms [8][9][10] , which can be detected by using an appropriate readout circuit 7 . SNSPDs have outperformed other near-infrared single photon detector technologies in terms of dark count rate, timing resolution and reset time 1 .…”

Section: Lettermentioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting single infrared photons with 93% system efficiency

et al. 2013

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Introductory paragraphSingle-photon detectors (SPDs) 1 at near-infrared wavelengths with high system detection efficiency (> 90%), low dark count rate (< 1 counts per second, cps), low timing jitter (< 100 ps), and short reset time (< 100 ns) would enable landmark experiments in a variety of fields [2][3][4][5][6] . Although some of the existing approaches to single-photon detection fulfill one or two of the above specifications 1 , to date no detector has met all of the specifications simultaneously. Here we report on a fiber-coupled singlephoton-detection system employing superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) 7 that closely approaches the ideal performance of SPDs. Our detector system has a system detection efficiency (SDE), including optical-coupling losses, greater than 90% in the wavelength range λ = 1520 -1610 nm; device dark count rate (measured with the device shielded from room-temperature blackbody radiation) of ≈ 0.01 cps; timing jitter of ≈ 150 ps FWHM; and reset time of 40 ns.

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Section: Lettermentioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting single infrared photons with 93% system efficiency

et al. 2013

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“…7 However, either of these approaches causes the wire to "latch" into a stable resistive state where it no longer detects photons. 8 This effect arises when negative electrothermal feedback, which in normal operation allows the device to reset itself, is made fast enough that it becomes stable. We present experiments which probe the stability of this feedback, and we develop a model which quantitatively explains our observations.…”

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confidence: 99%

Electrothermal feedback in superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors

et al. 2009

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We investigate the role of electrothermal feedback in the operation of superconducting nanowire singlephoton detectors ͑SNSPDs͒. It is found that the desired mode of operation for SNSPDs is only achieved if this feedback is unstable, which happens naturally through the slow electrical response associated with their relatively large kinetic inductance. If this response is sped up in an effort to increase the device count rate, the electrothermal feedback becomes stable and results in an effect known as latching, where the device is locked in a resistive state and can no longer detect photons. We present a set of experiments which elucidate this effect and a simple model which quantitatively explains the results. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.79.100509 PACS number͑s͒: 85.25.Oj, 74.78.Ϫw, 85.60.Gz Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors ͑SNSPDs͒ combine high speed, high detection efficiency ͑DE͒ over a wide range of wavelengths, and low dark counts. [1][2][3][4] Of particular importance is their high singlephoton timing resolution of ϳ30 ps, 4 which permits extremely high data rates in photon-counting communications applications. 5,6 Full use of this electrical bandwidth is limited, however, by the fact that the maximum count rates of these devices are much smaller ͑a few hundred MHz for 10 m 2 active area and decreasing as the area is increased 2 ͒, limited by their large kinetic inductance and the input impedance of the readout circuit. 2,7 To increase the count rate, therefore, one must either reduce the kinetic inductance ͑by using a smaller active area or different materials or substrates͒ or increase the load impedance. 7 However, either of these approaches causes the wire to "latch" into a stable resistive state where it no longer detects photons. 8 This effect arises when negative electrothermal feedback, which in normal operation allows the device to reset itself, is made fast enough that it becomes stable. We present experiments which probe the stability of this feedback, and we develop a model which quantitatively explains our observations. The operation of an SNSPD is illustrated in Fig. 1͑a͒. A nanowire ͑typically ϳ100 nm wide and 5nm thick͒ is biased with a dc current I 0 near its critical current I c . The nanowire has kinetic inductance L and is read out using a load impedance R L ͑typically a 50⍀ transmission line͒. When a photon is absorbed, a short ͑Ͻ100 nm long͒ normal domain is nucleated, giving the wire a resistance R n ͑t͒. This results in Joule heating which causes the normal domain ͑and consequently, R n ͒ to expand in time exponentially. The expansion is counteracted by negative electrothermal feedback from the load R L , which forms a current divider with R n , and diverts a current I L into the load ͑so that the current in the nanowire is reduced to I d ϵ I 0 − I L ͒, reducing the heating. However, in a correctly functioning device, this feedback is unstable: the inductive time constant is long enough so that before I L becomes appreciable, Joule heating has already increased R n , ...

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“…For a standard SNSPD, this dead time is governed by the L/R time constant of the series inductance of the SNSPD and the resistance across which the voltage pulse is being measured. In the case of WSi this is usually 50 ns [132]. This resistance is usually 50 Ω, but in the present case it is the impedance of the LED, which will be several kΩ, giving a shorter refractory period.…”

Section: Appendix C: Integration Time and Refractory Periodmentioning

confidence: 87%

Superconducting Optoelectronic Circuits for Neuromorphic Computing

et al. 2017

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Neural networks have proven effective for solving many difficult computational problems. Implementing complex neural networks in software is very computationally expensive. To explore the limits of information processing, it will be necessary to implement new hardware platforms with large numbers of neurons, each with a large number of connections to other neurons. Here we propose a hybrid semiconductor-superconductor hardware platform for the implementation of neural networks and large-scale neuromorphic computing. The platform combines semiconducting few-photon light-emitting diodes with superconducting-nanowire single-photon detectors to behave as spiking neurons. These processing units are connected via a network of optical waveguides, and variable weights of connection can be implemented using several approaches. The use of light as a signaling mechanism overcomes fanout and parasitic constraints on electrical signals while simultaneously introducing physical degrees of freedom which can be employed for computation. The use of supercurrents achieves the low power density necessary to scale to systems with enormous entropy. The proposed processing units can operate at speeds of at least 20 MHz with fully asynchronous activity, light-speed-limited latency, and power densities on the order of 1 mW/cm 2 for neurons with 700 connections operating at full speed at 2 K. The processing units achieve an energy efficiency of ≈ 20 aJ per synapse event. By leveraging multilayer photonics with deposited waveguides and superconductors with feature sizes > 100 nm, this approach could scale to systems with massive interconnectivity and complexity for advanced computing as well as explorations of information processing capacity in systems with an enormous number of information-bearing microstates.

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Modeling the Electrical and Thermal Response of Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors

Cited by 201 publications

References 14 publications

Detecting single infrared photons with 93% system efficiency

Detecting single infrared photons with 93% system efficiency

Electrothermal feedback in superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors

Superconducting Optoelectronic Circuits for Neuromorphic Computing

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