Article
Waveguide-integrated single- and multi-photon detection at telecom wavelengths using superconducting nanowires
We investigate single- and multi-photon detection regimes of superconducting nanowire detectors embedded in silicon nitride nanophotonic circuits. At near-infrared wavelengths, simultaneous detection of up to three photons is observed for 120 nm wide nanowires biased far from the critical current, while narrow nanowires below 100 nm provide efficient single photon detection. A theoretical model is proposed to determine the different detection regimes and to calculate the corresponding internal quantum efficiency. The predicted saturation of the internal quantum efficiency in the single photon regime agrees well with plateau behavior observed at high bias currents.
These notes have appeared as a result of a one-term course in superfluidity and superconductivity given by the author to fourth-year undergraduate students and first-year graduate students of the Department of Physics, Moscow State University of Education. The goal was not to give a detailed picture of these two macroscopic quantum phenomena with an extensive coverage of the experimental background and all the modern developments, but rather to show how the knowledge of undergraduate quantum mechanics and statistical physics could be used to discuss the basic concepts and simple problems, and draw parallels between superconductivity and superfluidity.
Superconductivity and superfluidity are two phenomena where quantum mechanics, typically constrained to the microscopic realm, shows itself on the macroscopic level. Conceptually and mathematically, these phenomena are related very closely, and some results obtained for one can, with a few modifications, be immediately carried over to the other. However, the student of these notes should be aware of important differences between superconductivity and superfluidity that stem mainly from two facts: (1) electrons in a superconductor carry a charge, therefore one has to take into account interaction with electromagnetic radiation; (2) electrons move in a lattice, therefore phonons play a role not only a mediators of attractive interaction between pairs of electrons, but also as scatterers of charge carriers.
Although these are notes on superfluidity and superconductivity, and there are a few cross-references, the two subjects can be studied independently with, perhaps, a little extra work by the student to fill in the gaps resulting from such study. The material of Chapter 1 introduces the method of second quantisation that is commonly used to discuss systems with many interacting particles. It is then applied in Chaper 2 to treat the uniform weakly interacting Bose gas within the approach by N. Bogoliubov, and in Chapter 4 to formulate the theory of the uniform superconducting state put forth by J. Bardeen, L. Cooper and R. Schrieffer. Chapter 3 presents the theory proposed independently by E. Gross and L. Pitaevskii of a non-uniform weakly interacting Bose gas, with a discussion of vortices, rotation of the condensate, and the Bogoliubov equations. In Chapter 5 we discuss the Ginzburd-Landau theory of a non-uniform superconductor near the critical temperature and apply it to a few simple problems such as the surface energy of the boundary between a normal metal and a superconductor, critical current and critical magnetic field, and vortices.
We report on the design, fabrication and measurement of travelling-wave superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) integrated with polycrystalline diamond photonic circuits. We analyze their performance both in the near-infrared wavelength regime around 1600 nm and at 765 nm. Near-IR detection is important for compatibility with the telecommunication infrastructure, while operation in the visible wavelength range is relevant for compatibility with the emission line of silicon vacancy centers in diamond which can be used as efficient single-photon sources. Our detectors feature high critical currents (up to 31 μA) and high performance in terms of efficiency (up to 74% at 765 nm), noise-equivalent power (down to 4.4×10-19 W/Hz1/2 at 765 nm) and timing jitter (down to 23 ps).
Recently bright-light control of the SSPD has been demonstrated. This attack employed a "backdoor" in the detector biasing scheme. Under bright-light illumination, SSPD becomes resistive and remains "latched" in the resistive state even when the light is switched off. While the SSPD is latched, Eve can simulate SSPD single-photon response by sending strong light pulses, thus deceiving Bob. We developed the experimental setup for investigation of a dependence on latching threshold of SSPD on optical pulse length and peak power. By knowing latching threshold it is possible to understand essential requirements for development countermeasures against blinding attack on quantum key distribution system with SSPDs.
We demonstrate evidence of coherent magnetic flux tunneling through superconducting nanowires patterned in a thin highly disordered NbN film. The phenomenon is revealed as a superposition of flux states in a fully metallic superconducting loop with the nanowire acting as an effective tunnel barrier for the magnetic flux, and reproducibly observed in different wires. The flux superposition achieved in the fully metallic NbN rings proves the universality of the phenomenon previously reported for InOx .We perform microwave spectroscopy and study the tunneling amplitude as a function of the wire width, compare the experimental results with theories, and estimate the parameters for existing theoretical models.
We discuss the possibility of polarization state reconstruction and measurement over 302 km by Superconducting Single- Photon Detectors (SSPDs). Because of the excellent characteristics and the possibility to be effectively coupled to singlemode optical fiber many applications of the SSPD have already been reported. The most impressive one is the quantum key distribution (QKD) over 250 km distance. This demonstration shows further possibilities for the improvement of the characteristics of quantum-cryptographic systems such as increasing the bit rate and the quantum channel length, and decreasing the quantum bit error rate (QBER). This improvement is possible because SSPDs have the best characteristics in comparison with other single-photon detectors. We have demonstrated the possibility of polarization state reconstruction and measurement over 302.5 km with superconducting single-photon detectors. The advantage of an autocompensating optical scheme, also known as "plugandplay" for quantum key distribution, is high stability in the presence of distortions along the line. To increase the distance of quantum key distribution with this optical scheme we implement the superconducting single photon detectors (SSPD). At the 5 MHz pulse repetition frequency and the average photon number equal to 0.4 we measured a 33 bit/s quantum key generation for a 101.7 km single mode ber quantum channel. The extremely low SSPD dark count rate allowed us to keep QBER at 1.6% level.
We developed the model of the internal phonon bottleneck to describe the energy exchange between the acoustically soft ultrathin metal film and acoustically rigid substrate. Discriminating phonons in the film into two groups, escaping and nonescaping, we show that electrons and nonescaping phonons may form a unified subsystem, which is cooled down only due to interactions with escaping phonons, either due to direct phonon conversion or indirect sequential interaction with an electronic system. Using an amplitude-modulated absorption of the sub-THz radiation technique,we studied electron-phonon relaxation in ultrathin disordered films of tungsten silicide.We found an experimental proof of the internal phonon bottleneck. The experiment and simulation based on the proposed model agree well, resulting in τe−ph ∼ 140–190 ps at TC = 3.4K, supporting the results of earlier measurements by independent techniques.
The thermodynamical potential of a superconducting quantum cylinder is calculated. The dependence of the critical temperature and the heat capacity of a superconducting system of the surface concentration of electrons and on the radius of the nanotube is studied.
Overview This book concisely presents the latest trends in the physics of superconductivity and superfluidity and magnetismin novel systems, as well as the problem of BCS-BEC crossover in ultracold quantum gases and high-Tc superconductors. It further illuminates the intensive exchange of ideas between these closely related fields of condensed matter physics over the last 30 years of their dynamic development. The content is based on the author’s original findings obtained at the Kapitza Institute, as well as advanced lecture courses he held at the Moscow Engineering Physical Institute, Amsterdam University, Loughborough University and LPTMS Orsay between 1994 and 2011. In addition to the findings of his group, the author discusses the most recent concepts in these fields, obtained both in Russia and in the West. The book consists of 16 chapters which are divided into four parts. The first part describes recent developments in superfluid hydrodynamics of quantum fluids and solids, including the fashionable subject of possible supersolidity in quantum crystals of 4He, while the second describes BCS-BEC crossover in quantum Fermi-Bose gases and mixtures, as well as in the underdoped states of cuprates. The third part is devoted to non-phonon mechanisms of superconductivity in unconventional (anomalous) superconductors, including some important aspects of the theory of high-Tc superconductivity. |The last part considers the anomalous normal state of novel superconductive materials and materials with colossal magnetoresistance (CMR). The book offers a valuable guide for senior-level undergraduate students and graduate students, postdoctoral and other researchers specializing in solid-state and low-temperature physics.
The dynamics of a two-component Davydov-Scott (DS) soliton with a small mismatch of the initial location or velocity of the high-frequency (HF) component was investigated within the framework of the Zakharov-type system of two coupled equations for the HF and low-frequency (LF) fields. In this system, the HF field is described by the linear Schrödinger equation with the potential generated by the LF component varying in time and space. The LF component in this system is described by the Korteweg-de Vries equation with a term of quadratic influence of the HF field on the LF field. The frequency of the DS soliton`s component oscillation was found analytically using the balance equation. The perturbed DS soliton was shown to be stable. The analytical results were confirmed by numerical simulations.
By using superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometry, we investigated anisotropic high-field (H less than or similar to 7T) low-temperature (10 K) magnetization response of inhomogeneous nanoisland FeNi films grown by rf sputtering deposition on Sitall (TiO2) glass substrates. In the grown FeNi films, the FeNi layer nominal thickness varied from 0.6 to 2.5 nm, across the percolation transition at the d(c) similar or equal to 1.8 nm. We discovered that, beyond conventional spin-magnetism of Fe21Ni79 permalloy, the extracted out-of-plane magnetization response of the nanoisland FeNi films is not saturated in the range of investigated magnetic fields and exhibits paramagnetic-like behavior. We found that the anomalous out-of-plane magnetization response exhibits an escalating slope with increase in the nominal film thickness from 0.6 to 1.1 nm, however, it decreases with further increase in the film thickness, and then practically vanishes on approaching the FeNi film percolation threshold. At the same time, the in-plane response demonstrates saturation behavior above 1.5-2T, competing with anomalously large diamagnetic-like response, which becomes pronounced at high magnetic fields. It is possible that the supported-metal interaction leads to the creation of a thin charge-transfer (CT) layer and a Schottky barrier at the FeNi film/Sitall (TiO2) interface. Then, in the system with nanoscale circular domains, the observed anomalous paramagnetic-like magnetization response can be associated with a large orbital moment of the localized electrons. In addition, the inhomogeneous nanoisland FeNi films can possess spontaneous ordering of toroidal moments, which can be either of orbital or spin origin. The system with toroidal inhomogeneity can lead to anomalously strong diamagnetic-like response. The observed magnetization response is determined by the interplay between the paramagnetic-and diamagnetic-like contributions.
Radiation conditions are described for various space regions, radiation-induced effects in spacecraft materials and equipment components are considered and information on theoretical, computational, and experimental methods for studying radiation effects are presented. The peculiarities of radiation effects on nanostructures and some problems related to modeling and radiation testing of such structures are considered.
This volume presents new results in the study and optimization of information transmission models in telecommunication networks using different approaches, mainly based on theiries of queueing systems and queueing networks .
The paper provides a number of proposed draft operational guidelines for technology measurement and includes a number of tentative technology definitions to be used for statistical purposes, principles for identification and classification of potentially growing technology areas, suggestions on the survey strategies and indicators. These are the key components of an internationally harmonized framework for collecting and interpreting technology data that would need to be further developed through a broader consultation process. A summary of definitions of technology already available in OECD manuals and the stocktaking results are provided in the Annex section.