Abstract
Abstract The superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) is a quantum-limit superconducting optical detector based on the Cooper-pair breaking effect by a single photon, which exhibits a higher detection efficiency, lower dark count rate, higher counting rate, and lower timing jitter when compared with those exhibited by its counterparts. SNSPDs have been extensively applied in quantum information processing, including quantum key distribution and optical quantum computation. In this review, we present the requirements of single-photon detectors from quantum information, as well as the principle, key metrics, latest performance issues, and other issues associated with SNSPD. The representative applications of SNSPDs with respect to quantum information will also be covered.
Highlights
Superconductivity, which was discovered by the Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes on April 8, 1911, is one of the most renowned macroscopic quantum effects [1]
The superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) is a quantum-limit superconducting optical detector based on the Cooper-pair breaking effect by a single photon, which exhibits a higher detection efficiency, lower dark count rate, higher counting rate, and lower timing jitter when compared with those exhibited by its counterparts
We present the requirements of single-photon detectors from quantum information, as well as the principle, key metrics, latest performance issues, and other issues associated with SNSPD
Summary
Superconductivity, which was discovered by the Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes on April 8, 1911, is one of the most renowned macroscopic quantum effects [1]. A single NIR photon having a wavelength of 1550 nm and an energy of 0.8 eV can break 125 Cooper-pairs. Different types of superconducting single-photon detectors (SPDs) exist They may have different operation principles, use different device structures and materials, and generate different output signals even though they rely on the Cooper-pair breaking mechanism. When an STJ operates as an SPD, one superconducting film (electrode) absorbs the photons and the photon energy is converted into broken Cooper-pairs and phonons. The science and technology of QI can produce revolutionary advances in the fields of science and engineering, involving communication, computation, precision measurement, and fundamental quantum science. This is usually called “the second quantum revolution.”. We will refer the interested readers to a more specialized literature on different topics
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