Energy-gap dynamics of superconducting NbN thin films studied by time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy

Using time-domain Terahertz spectroscopy we performed direct studies of the photoinduced suppression and recovery of the superconducting gap in a conventional BCS superconductor NbN. Both processes are found to be strongly temperature and excitation density dependent. The analysis of the data with the established phenomenological Rothwarf-Taylor model enabled us to determine the bare quasiparticle recombination rate, the Cooper pair-breaking rate and the electron-phonon coupling constant, \lambda = 1.1 +/- 0.1, which is in excellent agreement with theoretical estimates.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; final version, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Superconducting nanowire photon number resolving detector at telecom wavelength

The optical-to-electrical conversion, which is the basis of optical detectors, can be linear or nonlinear. When high sensitivities are needed single-photon detectors (SPDs) are used, which operate in a strongly nonlinear mode, their response being independent of the photon number. Nevertheless, photon-number resolving (PNR) detectors are needed, particularly in quantum optics, where n-photon states are routinely produced. In quantum communication, the PNR functionality is key to many protocols for establishing, swapping and measuring entanglement, and can be used to detect photon-number-splitting attacks. A linear detector with single-photon sensitivity can also be used for measuring a temporal waveform at extremely low light levels, e.g. in long-distance optical communications, fluorescence spectroscopy, optical time-domain reflectometry. We demonstrate here a PNR detector based on parallel superconducting nanowires and capable of counting up to 4 photons at telecommunication wavelengths, with ultralow dark count rate and high counting frequency

Single photonics at telecom wavelengths using nanowire superconducting detectors

Single photonic applications - such as quantum key distribution - rely on the transmission of single photons, and require the ultimate sensitivity that an optical detector can achieve. Single-photon detectors must convert the energy of an optical pulse containing a single photon into a measurable electrical signal. We report on fiber-coupled superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs) with specifications that exceed those of avalanche photodiodes (APDs), operating at telecommunication wavelength, in sensitivity, temporal resolution and repetition frequency. The improved performance is demonstrated by measuring the intensity correlation function g(2)(t) of single-photon states at 1300nm produced by single semiconductor quantum dots (QDs).Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures - submitted 12 OCT 200

Spectral dependency of superconducting single photon detectors

International audienceWe investigate the effect of varying both incoming optical wavelength and width of NbN nanowires on the superconducting single photondetectors (SSPD) detection efficiency. The SSPD are current biased close to critical value and temperature fixed at 4.2 K, far from transition. The experimental results are found to verify with a good accuracy predictions based on the "hot spot model," whose size scales with the absorbed photon energy. With larger optical power inducing multiphoton detection regime, the same scaling law remains valid, up to the three-photon regime. We demonstrate the validity of applying a limited number of measurements and using such a simple model to reasonably predict any SSPD behavior among a collection of nanowire device widths at different photon wavelengths. These results set the basis for designing efficient single photondetectors operating in the infrared (2-5 μm range)

Quantum Communication

Quantum communication, and indeed quantum information in general, has changed the way we think about quantum physics. In 1984 and 1991, the first protocol for quantum cryptography and the first application of quantum non-locality, respectively, attracted a diverse field of researchers in theoretical and experimental physics, mathematics and computer science. Since then we have seen a fundamental shift in how we understand information when it is encoded in quantum systems. We review the current state of research and future directions in this new field of science with special emphasis on quantum key distribution and quantum networks.Comment: Submitted version, 8 pg (2 cols) 5 fig

Ground-based terahertz CO spectroscopy towards Orion

Using a superconductive hot-electron bolometer heterodyne receiver on the 10-m Heinrich Hertz Telescope on Mount Graham, Arizona, we have obtained velocity-resolved 1.037 THz CO (J = 9 → 8) spectra toward several positions along the Orion Molecular Cloud (OMC-1) ridge. We confirm the general results of prior observations of high-J CO lines that show that the high temperature, T_(kin) ≥ 130 K, high density molecular gas, N ≥ 10^6 cm^(-3), is quite extended, found along a ~ 4' region centered on BN/KL. However, our observations have significantly improved angular resolution, and with a beam size of θ_(FWHP) we are able to spatially and kinematically discriminate the emission originating in the extended quiescent ridge from the very strong and broadened emission originating in the compact molecular outflow. The ridge emission very close to the BN/KL region appears to originate from two distinct clouds along the line of sight with v_(LSR) ≈ +6(1)kms^(-1) and ≈ +10(1)km s^(-1). The former component dominates the emission to the south of BN/KL and the latter to the north, with a turnover point coincident with or near BN/KL. Our evidence precludes a simple rotation of the inner ridge and lends support to a model in which there are multiple molecular clouds along the line of sight towards the Orion ridge

Testing foundations of quantum mechanics with photons

The foundational ideas of quantum mechanics continue to give rise to counterintuitive theories and physical effects that are in conflict with a classical description of Nature. Experiments with light at the single photon level have historically been at the forefront of tests of fundamental quantum theory and new developments in photonics engineering continue to enable new experiments. Here we review recent photonic experiments to test two foundational themes in quantum mechanics: wave-particle duality, central to recent complementarity and delayed-choice experiments; and Bell nonlocality where recent theoretical and technological advances have allowed all controversial loopholes to be separately addressed in different photonics experiments.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, published as a Nature Physics Insight review articl

Superconducting nanowire photon-number-resolving detector at telecommunication wavelengths

Optical-to-electrical conversion, which is the basis of the operation of optical detectors, can be linear or nonlinear. When high sensitivities are needed, single-photon detectors are used, which operate in a strongly nonlinear mode, their response being independent of the number of detected photons. However, photon-number-resolving detectors are needed, particularly in quantum optics, where n-photon states are routinely produced. In quantum communication and quantum information processing, the photon-numberre-solving functionality is key to many protocols, such as the implementation of quantum repeaters(1) and linear- optics quantum computing(2). A linear detector with single-photon sensitivity can also be used for measuring a temporal waveform at extremely low light levels, such as in long-distance optical communications, fluorescence spectroscopy and optical time-domain reflectometry. We demonstrate here a photon-number-resolving detector based on parallel superconducting nanowires and capable of counting up to four photons at telecommunication wavelengths, with an ultralow dark count rate and high counting frequency