Superconducting detectors

Extracted Attributes

• Type

  Optical and near-infrared single-photon detector

• Acronym

  SNSPD or SSPD

• Typical Materials

  Tungsten silicide wires deposited on a silicon substrate

• Key Feature (2023)

  Fastest single-photon detector for photon counting

• Standards Compliance

  Covered by International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) international standards

• Operational Principle

  Current-biased superconducting nanowire

• Performance Characteristics

  Very high detection efficiency, very low dark count rate, very low timing jitter

• Commercial Availability (2023)

  Multichannel systems available

• Commercial System Price (2023)

  Around 100,000 euros

• Wire Width for Infra-red Detection

  Up to 1.5 μm

• Advantage over Transition-Edge Sensors

  Can operate at higher temperatures, reset more quickly

• Manufacturing Method (for wider wires)

  Optical lithography (reduces cost)

Timeline

• John Martinis publishes landmark paper on macroscopic quantum mechanics, demonstrating quantum phenomena in superconducting circuits, laying experimental foundation for quantum computing. (Source: related_documents)

  1985-XX-XX

• Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) are first developed by scientists at Moscow State Pedagogical University and the University of Rochester. (Source: wikipedia)

  2001-XX-XX

• The first fully operational prototype of an SNSPD is demonstrated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (Boulder) and BBN Technologies as part of the DARPA Quantum Network. (Source: wikipedia)

  2005-XX-XX

• John Martinis's team at Google achieves Quantum Supremacy, showcasing advancements in superconducting quantum computing, a field with foundational links to superconducting properties. (Source: related_documents)

  2019-XX-XX

• Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) are recognized as the fastest single-photon detectors for photon counting. (Source: wikipedia)

  2023-XX-XX

• Commercial SNSPD devices are available in multichannel systems, priced around 100,000 euros. (Source: wikipedia)

  2023-XX-XX

• It is discovered that superconducting wires as wide as 1.5 μm can detect single infra-red photons, enabling the use of more cost-effective optical lithography in their construction. (Source: wikipedia)

  XXXX-XX-XX

Superconducting nanowire single-photon detector

The superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD or SSPD) is a type of optical and near-infrared single-photon detector based on a current-biased superconducting nanowire. It was first developed by scientists at Moscow State Pedagogical University and at the University of Rochester in 2001. The first fully operational prototype was demonstrated in 2005 by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (Boulder), and BBN Technologies as part of the DARPA Quantum Network. As of 2023, a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector is the fastest single-photon detector (SPD) for photon counting. It is a key enabling technology for quantum optics and optical quantum technologies. SNSPDs are available with very high detection efficiency, very low dark count rate and very low timing jitter, compared to other types of single-photon detectors. SNSPDs are covered by International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) international standards. As of 2023, commercial SNSPD devices are available in multichannel systems in a price range of 100,000 euros. It was recently discovered that superconducting wires as wide as 1.5 μm can detect single infra-red photons. This is important because optical lithography rather than electron lithography can be used in their construction. This reduces the cost for applications that require large photodetector areas. One application is in dark matter detection experiments, where the target is a scintillating GaAs crystal. GaAs suitably doped with silicon and boron is a luminous cryogenic scintillator that has no apparent afterglow and is available commercially in the form of large, high-quality crystals.

Web Search Results

• Two Applications of Superconducting Detectors - Scientific American

  As discussed in the main text of "Seeing with Superconductors," superconducting detectors are revolutionizing a wide variety of research and technology fields, including nuclear nonproliferation and homeland security, analysis of microchips, submillimeter band astronomy and the study of the cosmic microwave background. Here I talk about two more: quantum cryptography and the search for dark matter. [...] A team led by Sae Woo Nam of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colo., and Blas Cabrera of Stanford University has developed superconducting detectors that can measure photon numbers efficiently at telecommunication wavelengths with a negligible error rate, opening the way to secure quantum cryptography over a distance of 100 kilometers. These detectors are also the enabling technology for other quantum information applications. They allow researchers to prove that [...] The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) is an experiment that uses superconducting detectors to search for rare WIMP interactions. A team led by Cabrera of Stanford and Bernard Sadoulet of the University of California, Berkeley, developed the experiment. The detectors consist of thick semiconductor wafers with a superconducting detector on one side and charge detectors on the other. When a particle (such as a WIMP) collides with the detector, it creates crystal lattice vibrations (phonons) and

• 6.4 Superconducting Sensors and Detectors

  Superconducting sensors and detectors are cutting-edge devices that use the unique properties of superconductors to measure incredibly weak signals.

• Superconducting nanowire single-photon detector - Wikipedia

  The superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD or SSPD) is a type of optical and near-infrared single-photon detector based on a current-biased superconducting nanowire. It was first developed by scientists at Moscow State Pedagogical University and at the University of Rochester in 2001. The first fully operational prototype was demonstrated in 2005 by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (Boulder), and BBN Technologies as part of the DARPA Quantum Network. [...] As of 2023, a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector is the fastest single-photon detector (SPD) for photon counting. It is a key enabling technology for quantum optics and optical quantum technologies. SNSPDs are available with very high detection efficiency, very low dark count rate and very low timing jitter, compared to other types of single-photon detectors. SNSPDs are covered by International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) international standards. As of 2023, commercial SNSPD [...] 1. ^ Natarajan, Chandra M.; Tanner, Michael G.; Hadfield, Robert H. (2012). "Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors: Physics and applications". Superconductor Science and Technology. 25 (6) 063001. arXiv "ArXiv (identifier)"):1204.5560. Bibcode "Bibcode (identifier)"):2012SuScT..25f3001N. doi "Doi (identifier)"):10.1088/0953-2048/25/6/063001. S2CID "S2CID (identifier)") 4893642.

• Superconductive Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors | NIST

  NIST’s superconducting sensors can detect up to 98% of the photons that hit them, with very low dark count rates. While SNSPDs are slightly less efficient than a different kind of sensor known as a transition-edge sensor at capturing every photon that hits them, they can operate at higher temperatures, which reduces the size and complexity of the cryogenics that are needed to cool them. They also reset themselves more quickly after a detection, making them ideal for applications requiring high [...] In a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector, or SNSPD, a thin wire made of a superconducting material twists and turns over a surface. NIST researchers make these devices mainly out of tungsten silicide wires deposited on a silicon substrate. The sensor is roughly the width of a human hair. [...] SNSPDs have been used in clinical settings to measure blood flow in the brain. To do this, a device shines infrared laser light at a patient’s skull. The amount of blood flow in different regions of the brain affects how the light scatters. Optical fibers collect scattered photons and carry them to a refrigerator that houses the superconducting detectors, which read out the scattering pattern. This technology can help doctors investigate possible brain damage without drilling into a patient’s

• Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors (SNSPD)

  Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) represent the very best in single-photon detection. They offer many important advantages over the best competing semiconductor technologies: unparalleled detection efficiency and timing precision, negligible intrinsic dark counts, ultrafast detection rates, and broadband operation, all with comparatively simple cryogenics and device physics. They are quickly becoming the detector of choice for a broad range of applications from quantum [...] SNSPDs operate by holding a nanometer-scale strip of superconducting material below its critical temperature, patterned in a compact meander geometry to create a circular pixel with high detection efficiency over a two-dimensional detector plane. The absorption of a single photon by an SNSPD causes a rapid observable spike in the nanowire’s resistance, and cryogenic read-out circuitry sends the user a picosecond-precise electrical pulse, simple to record using off-the-shelf time-correlator [...] returns to the superconducting state, ready to detect another photon.