Akhlaghi Mohsen K, Majedi A Hamed
Institute for Quantum Computing and ECE Department, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
Opt Express. 2012 Jan 16;20(2):1608-16. doi: 10.1364/OE.20.001608.
Single Photon Detectors are fundamental to quantum optics and quantum information. Superconducting nanowire detectors exhibit high performance in free-running mode, but have a limited maximum count rate. By exploiting a bistable superconducting nanowire system, we demonstrate the first gated-mode operation of these detectors for a large active area single element device at 625MHz, one order of magnitude faster than its free-running counterpart. We show the maximum count rate in gated-mode operation can be pushed to GHz range without a compromise on the active area or quantum efficiency, while reducing the dark count rate.
单光子探测器是量子光学和量子信息的基础。超导纳米线探测器在自由运行模式下表现出高性能，但最大计数率有限。通过利用双稳态超导纳米线系统，我们展示了这些探测器在625MHz下对大面积单元素器件的首次门控模式操作，比其自由运行的同类器件快一个数量级。我们表明，门控模式操作下的最大计数率可以提高到GHz范围，而不会在有效面积或量子效率上有所妥协，同时降低暗计数率。
