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Resolving Photon Numbers Using a Superconducting Nanowire with Impedance-Matching Taper
Di Zhu1, Marco Colangelo1, Changchen Chen1
1Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
Nano Letters
|April 10, 2020
Summary
We developed a new photon-number-resolving detector for quantum information. This device offers precise timing and few-photon detection at telecommunication wavelengths, improving quantum experiments.
Area of Science:
- Quantum optics
- Superconducting devices
- Photonics
Background:
- Accurate time- and number-resolved photon detection is essential for quantum information processing.
- Current photon-number-resolving (PNR) detectors often have trade-offs in timing resolution, dark counts, or complexity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate a novel PNR detector at telecommunication wavelengths.
- To achieve high timing resolution and effective few-photon discrimination.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing a single superconducting nanowire with an integrated impedance-matching taper.
- Designing the taper to provide a kΩ load impedance, making output amplitude sensitive to photon number.
Main Results:
- The detector resolved up to four absorbed photons.
- Achieved timing jitter of 16.1 picoseconds and a dark count rate below 2 counts per second.
- Demonstrated high-fidelity distinction between single- and two-photon responses.
- Observed photon pair bunching from a Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer.
Conclusions:
- The demonstrated PNR detector offers a practical solution for quantum applications.
- The device's architecture provides high timing resolution and few-photon discrimination capabilities.
- This technology advances the development of quantum information processing systems.
