Single-photon imager based on a superconducting nanowire delay line

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-1-2017

Abstract

Detecting spatial and temporal information of individual photons is critical to applications in spectroscopy, communication, biological imaging, astronomical observation and quantum-information processing. Here we demonstrate a scalable single-photon imager using a single continuous superconducting nanowire that is not only a single-photon detector but also functions as an efficient microwave delay line. In this context, photon-detection pulses are guided in the nanowire and enable the readout of the position and time of photon-absorption events from the arrival times of the detection pulses at the nanowire's two ends. Experimentally, we slowed down the velocity of pulse propagation to ∼2% of the speed of light in free space. In a 19.7 mm long nanowire that meandered across an area of 286 × 193 μm 2, we were able to resolve ∼590 effective pixels with a temporal resolution of 50 ps (full width at half maximum). The nanowire imager presents a scalable approach for high-resolution photon imaging in space and time.

Publication Title

Nature Photonics

Volume

11

Issue

4

First Page

247

Last Page

251

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1038/nphoton.2017.35

ISSN

17494885

E-ISSN

17494893

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