Optically probing the detection mechanism in a molybdenum silicide superconducting nanowire single-photon detector

Caloz, Misael; Korzh, Boris; Timoney, Nuala; Weiß, Markus; Gariglio, Stefano; Warburton, Richard J.; Schönenberger, Christian; Renema, Jelmer J.; Zbinden, Hugo; Bussières, Félix

doi:10.1063/1.4977034

Cited by 35 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(71 reference statements)

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“…The single-valuedness of the solution (8) and negative derivative of latency as a function of energy ensures that the derivative ∂E(t, y, I B , T b ) ∂t in expression (10) is negative. A positive derivative implies the unphysical possibility of the P CR decreasing with time.…”

Section: B Timing Jitter: Hotspot Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The nonequilibrium dynamics of this hotspot are a topic of broad interest in superconducting detectors, but precise modeling of the physical process remains an open topic of research. While there have been intense experimental [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] and theoretical [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] efforts to understand the details of the detection mechanism in SNSPDs, there is still debate over the most appropriate model for understanding this nonequilibrium process in different regimes of photon energy, bias current, and temperature. Considerable effort has been focused on understanding the internal efficiency of nanowire detectors as a means of validating detection models, but less attention has been given to the timing properties predicted by these models.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Intrinsic Timing Jitter and Latency in Superconducting Nanowire Single-photon Detectors

et al. 2019

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We analyze the origin of the intrinsic timing jitter in superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) in terms of fluctuations in the latency of the detector response, which is determined by the microscopic physics of the photon detection process. We demonstrate that fluctuations in the physical parameters which determine the latency give rise to the intrinsic timing jitter. We develop a general description of latency by introducing the explicit time dependence of the internal detection efficiency. By considering the dynamic Fano fluctuations together with static spatial inhomogeneities, we study the details of the connection between latency and timing jitter. We develop both a simple phenomenological model and a more general microscopic model of detector latency and timing jitter based on the solution of the generalized time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations for the 1D hotbelt geometry. While the analytical model is sufficient for qualitative interpretation of recent data, the general approach establishes the framework for a quantitative analysis of detector latency and the fundamental limits of intrinsic timing jitter. These theoretical advances can be used to interpret the results of recent experiments measuring the dependence of detection latency and timing jitter on photon energy to the few-picosecond level.

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Section: B Timing Jitter: Hotspot Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intrinsic Timing Jitter and Latency in Superconducting Nanowire Single-photon Detectors

et al. 2019

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“…Increasing the bias current reduces the vortex potential and increases the vortex crossing rate. This causes not only an increase in the quantum efficiency (P 1 ) [42,43], but also an increase in the dark count probability (P 0 ) as shown in Fig. 7.…”

Section: Povm Theorymentioning

confidence: 92%

Probabilistic vortex crossing criterion for superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors

Jahani

Yang

Tepole

et al. 2020

Journal of Applied Physics

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Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors have emerged as a promising technology for quantum metrology from the mid-infrared to ultra-violet frequencies. Despite the recent experimental successes, a predictive model to describe the detection event in these detectors is needed to optimize the detection metrics. Here, we propose a probabilistic criterion for single-photon detection based on single-vortex (flux quanta) crossing the width of the nanowire. Our finite-difference calculations demonstrate that a change in the bias current distribution as a result of the photon absorption significantly increases the probability of single-vortex crossing even if the vortex potential barrier has not vanished completely. We estimate the instrument response function and show that the timing uncertainty of this vortex tunneling process corresponds to a fundamental limit in timing jitter of the click event. We demonstrate a trade-space between the timing jitter, quantum efficiency, and dark count rate in TaN, WSi, and NbN superconducting nanowires at different experimental conditions. Our detection model can also explain the experimental observation of exponential decrease in the quantum efficiency of SNSPDs at lower energies. This leads to a pulsewidth dependency in the quantum efficiency, and it can be further used as an experimental test to compare across different detection models.

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“…(3) in combination with a wavelength independent I Ã to capture the relevant details for NbN nanowires. The functional dependence of the LDE is not universal, and results on amorphous superconducting nanowires [31,32] suggest an error function in combination with a wavelength-dependent I Ã . We have verified that replacing the exponential function with an error function leads to small changes in the computed values but will not qualitatively change the observations and conclusions of our current work.…”

Section: Local Detection Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Design of NbN Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors with Enhanced Infrared Detection Efficiency

et al. 2017

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We optimize the design of NbN nanowire superconducting single-photon detectors using the recently discovered position-dependent detection efficiency in these devices. This optimized design of meandering wire NbN detectors maximizes absorption at positions where photon detection is most efficient by altering the field distribution across the wire. In order to calculate the response of the detectors with different geometries, we use a monotonic local detection efficiency from a nanowire and optical absorption distribution via finite-difference-time-domain simulations. The calculations predict a trade-off between average absorption and absorption at the edge, leading to a predicted optimal wire width close to 100 nm for a 1550-nm wavelength, which drops to a 50-nm wire width for a 600-nm wavelength. The absorption at the edges can be enhanced by depositing a silicon nanowire on top of the superconducting nanowire, which improves both the total absorption efficiency and the internal detection efficiency of meandering wire structures. The proposed structure can be integrated in a relatively simple cavity structure to reach absorption efficiencies of 97% for perpendicular and 85% for parallel polarization.

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Optically probing the detection mechanism in a molybdenum silicide superconducting nanowire single-photon detector

Cited by 35 publications

References 38 publications

Intrinsic Timing Jitter and Latency in Superconducting Nanowire Single-photon Detectors

Intrinsic Timing Jitter and Latency in Superconducting Nanowire Single-photon Detectors

Probabilistic vortex crossing criterion for superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors

Design of NbN Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors with Enhanced Infrared Detection Efficiency

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