Time-of-flight laser ranging and imaging at 1550 nm using low-jitter superconducting nanowire single-photon detection system

Abstract

We developed a time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) system based on the low-jitter superconducting nanowire singlephoton detection (SNSPD) technology. The causes of jitters in the TCSPC system were analyzed. Owing to the low jitter of the SNSPD technology, a system jitter of 26.8 ps full-width at half-maximum was achieved after optimizing the system. We demonstrated timeof-flight laser ranging at 1550 nm wavelength at a stand-off distance of 115 m, based on this TCSPC system. A depth resolution of 4 mm was achieved directly by locating the centroids of each of the two return signals. Laser imaging was also performed using the TCSPC system. This low-jitter TCSPC system using the SNSPD technology presents great potential in long-range measurements and imaging applications for low-energy-level and eye-safe laser systems.

Field Test of Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution

“…They both should be optimized correspondingly at a certain transmission distance; 3) the SNSPD used in the BSM module. Besides the merits of high detection efficiency and low dark counts, the SNSPD has another advantage of low timing jitter within 100 ps that largely improves the overall timing jitter performance [25], [26]; 4) the time interval analyzer, which in our experiment is a high-performance timeto-digital converter (TDC). It records the time between the input detection event and its start signal.…”

Statistical analysis of the temporal single-photon response of superconducting nanowire single photon detection

“…Many SNSPD-based applications have been demonstrated, such as quantum key distribution (QKD) [6][7][8][9] , deep space laser communications [10] , and time-of-fight laser ranging and imaging [11] .…”

High-Speed Single-Photon Detection with Avalanche Photodiodes in the Near Infrared

“…For instance, single-photon avalanche photodiodes (SPADs), SPDs based on frequency up-conversion, visible-light photon counters, superconducting transitionedge sensors, superconducting nanowire SPDs (SNSPDs), and SPDs based on quantum dots and semiconductor defects, differ in terms of spectral response, quantum efficiency, dark count and afterpulse noise, signal-to-noise ratio, timing jitter, and photon-number-resolving capability, providing optimal choices for various specific applications [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. In consideration of high-speed quantum information processing applications, SPADs, frequency up-conversion technique, and SNSPDs are competitive choices [29][30][31].…”