H2020Индивидуална стипендия2015–2017

SuSiPOD · Broadband Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors

„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2015-07-01 → 2017-06-30
Финансиране от ЕС: 173 076 €
Участници: 1
Схема: MSCA-IF-EF-ST

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Накратко на български

Свръхпроводящи наножици върху специални нитридни канали се разработват за откриване на единични фотони, например за нуждите на космическата комуникация. Тези детектори подобряват точността и ефективността при улавянето на светлината, което помага за развитието на квантовите компютри.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

Broadband Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors

Single-photon detection is an emerging technology, with applications ranging from medical imaging and LIDAR systems to space communication and fundamental quantum optics. Moreover, single-photon detectors are considered an enabling technology for the development of quantum information science, and the quantum computer. Currently, single-photon detection is carried out using semiconductor-based avalanche photodiodes; however, this technology is limited by large timing jitter, unavoidable dark counts, afterpulsing, and limited detection efficiency. A recently proposed alternative relies on a superconducting nanowire biased just below its critical current, so that an impinging photon triggers a transition from the superconducting to the normal state, resulting in a voltage spike at the nanowire leads. Superconductivity is then recovered within a few nanoseconds. The detection efficiency can be boosted close to 100% by coupling the superconducting nanowire to the evanescent field propagating in a waveguide. However, the fabrication of high quality, ultrathin superconducting layers is challenging (e.g., the critical temperature of superconducting NbN thin films on silicon is typically about 10 K, compared to 16 K for bulk NbN), and the operation wavelength of such devices is limited by the waveguide band gap. We have identified GaN/AlN as the best suited waveguide material system, approximately lattice matched with NbN, and with a transparent band from 400 to 6000 nm. The target of the SuSiPOD project is the establishment of a technology platform for the fabrication of a new generation of broadband superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors built on III-nitride waveguides, in which photons are coupled laterally with the help of a tapered optical fibre. This new geometry should allow near-unity absorption probability in a wide spectral range, since the substrate is transparent to visible and infrared light. The project success will be proven by the realization of a working prototype which will greatly outperform state-of-the-art single-photon detectors.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

Single-photon detection is an emerging technology, with applications ranging from medical imaging and LIDAR systems to space communication and fundamental quantum optics. Moreover, single-photon detectors are considered an enabling technology for the development of quantum information science, paving the way for the realization of one of the main challenges of the 21st century: the quantum computer. Currently, single-photon detection is carried out using semiconductor-based avalanche photodiodes; however, this technology is limited by large timing jitter, unavoidable dark counts, after pulsing, and limited detection efficiency. A recently proposed alternative relies on a superconducting nanowire biased just below its critical current, so that an impinging photon triggers a transition from the superconducting to the normal state, resulting in a voltage spike at the nanowire leads. The detection efficiency can be boosted close to unity by coupling the superconducting nanowire to the evanescent field propagating in a waveguide. However, the fabrication of high quality, ultra-thin superconducting layers is challenging, and the operation wavelength of such devices is limited by the waveguide band gap. We have identified GaN/AlN as the best suited waveguide material system, approximately lattice matched with NbN, and with a transparent band from 400 to 6000 nm. The target of the SuSiPOD project is the establishment of a technology platform for the fabrication of a new generation of broadband superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors built on III-nitride waveguides, in which photons are coupled laterally with the help of a tapered optical fibre. This new geometry should allow near-unity absorption probability in a wide spectral range, since the substrate is transparent to visible and infrared light. The project success will be proven by the realization of a working prototype which will greatly outperform state-of-the-art single-photon detectors.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

COMMISSARIAT A L ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES · ParisКоординаторФранция