Next generation nanostructured superconducting single-photon detectors
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Materials Science & Metallurgy
Abstract
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Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Zoe Barber (Principal Investigator) | |
| Mark Blamire (Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Heath R
(2014)
Nano-optical observation of cascade switching in a parallel superconducting nanowire single photon detector
in Applied Physics Letters
Tanner MG
(2012)
A superconducting nanowire single photon detector on lithium niobate.
in Nanotechnology
| Description | Infrared single-photon detectors are a key enabling technology for a host of applications at the frontiers of science, from quantum information processing to remote sensing and new types of medical imaging. Advanced photon-counting applications place exacting demands on detector performance, which conventional detectors are unable to meet. This project focused on a highly promising single-photon detector technology, based on a superconducting nanowire; offering spectral sensitivity from visible to mid-infrared wavelengths, with picosecond timing resolution and low dark counts, improved practical quantum efficiency, larger device areas, and high fabrication yields. This project was a collaboration between two leading UK groups, at the University of Cambridge and Heriot-Watt University, with additional support from the leading international group in this field (MIT, USA). The Cambridge group, using world-class expertise in superconducting thin film growth and device fabrication, has fabricated nanowire detectors on a range of substrates, with a range of device designs, including a recent novel method for achieving spatial resolution. A particular challenge has been the growth and patterning of high quality films on GaAs-based Dielectric Bragg Reflectors, supplied by the Sheffield III-V Growth Facility. Devices were tested by the Heriot-Watt group in the final phase of the project, using their unrivalled expertise in nano-optical testing of superconducting single-photon detectors. The development of this new generation of high performance single-photon detectors will affirm the position of the UK at the forefront of single-photon science and applications. Device testing is still taking place (with our collaborators), and further papers on our results are in preparation. |
| Exploitation Route | Ultimately, photon detection is a requirement for quantum communication and quantum computing, besides potential new applications in biological imaging, remote sensing and astronomy. |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics,Environment,Security and Diplomacy |
| Description | Lithium niobate integrated quantum photonics |
| Amount | £420,651 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/I036303/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2012 |
| End | 11/2016 |