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.
Quantum key distribution (QKD)1,2 offers a long-term solution to secure key exchange. Due to photon loss in transmission, it was believed that the repeaterless key rate is bounded by a linear ...function of the transmittance, O(η) (refs. 3,4), limiting the maximal secure transmission distance5,6. Recently, a novel type of QKD scheme has been shown to beat the linear bound and achieve a key rate performance of O(η) (refs. 7–9). Here, by employing the laser injection technique and the phase post-compensation method, we match the modes of two independent lasers and overcome the phase fluctuation. As a result, the key rate surpasses the linear bound via 302 km and 402 km commercial-fibre channels, over four orders of magnitude higher than existing results5. Furthermore, our system yields a secret key rate of 0.118 bps with a 502 km ultralow-loss fibre. This new type of QKD pushes forward long-distance quantum communication for the future quantum internet.Phase-matching quantum key distribution is implemented with a 502 km ultralow-loss optical fibre. The fluctuations of the laser initial phases and frequencies are suppressed by the laser injection technique and the phase post-compensation method.
Quantum computers promise to perform certain tasks that are believed to be intractable to classical computers. Boson sampling is such a task and is considered a strong candidate to demonstrate the ...quantum computational advantage. We performed Gaussian boson sampling by sending 50 indistinguishable single-mode squeezed states into a 100-mode ultralow-loss interferometer with full connectivity and random matrix-the whole optical setup is phase-locked-and sampling the output using 100 high-efficiency single-photon detectors. The obtained samples were validated against plausible hypotheses exploiting thermal states, distinguishable photons, and uniform distribution. The photonic quantum computer,
, generates up to 76 output photon clicks, which yields an output state-space dimension of 10
and a sampling rate that is faster than using the state-of-the-art simulation strategy and supercomputers by a factor of ~10
.
Superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) with near-unity system efficiency is a key enabling, but still elusive, technology for numerous quantum fundamental theory verifications and ...quantum information applications. The key challenge is to have both a near-unity photon-response probability and absorption efficiency simultaneously for the meandered nanowire with a finite filling ratio, which is more crucial for NbN than other superconducting materials (e.g., WSi) with lower transition temperatures. Here, we overcome the above challenge and produce NbN SNSPDs with a record system efficiency by replacing a single-layer nanowire with twin-layer nanowires on a dielectric mirror. The detector at 0.8 K shows a maximal system detection efficiency (SDE) of 98% at 1590 nm and a system efficiency of over 95% in the wavelength range of 1530-1630 nm. Moreover, the detector at 2.1 K demonstrates a maximal SDE of 95% at 1550 nm using a compacted two-stage cryocooler. This type of detector also shows the robustness against various parameters, such as the geometrical size of the nanowire and the spectral bandwidth, enabling a high yield of 73% (36%) with an SDE of >80% (90%) at 2.1 K for 45 detectors fabricated in the same run. These SNSPDs made of twin-layer nanowires are of important practical significance for batch production.
We report phase-programmable Gaussian boson sampling (GBS) which produces up to 113 photon detection events out of a 144-mode photonic circuit. A new high-brightness and scalable quantum light source ...is developed, exploring the idea of stimulated emission of squeezed photons, which has simultaneously near-unity purity and efficiency. This GBS is programmable by tuning the phase of the input squeezed states. The obtained samples are efficiently validated by inferring from computationally friendly subsystems, which rules out hypotheses including distinguishable photons and thermal states. We show that our GBS experiment passes a nonclassicality test based on inequality constraints, and we reveal nontrivial genuine high-order correlations in the GBS samples, which are evidence of robustness against possible classical simulation schemes. This photonic quantum computer, Jiuzhang 2.0, yields a Hilbert space dimension up to ∼ 1043, and a sampling rate ∼ 1024 faster than using brute-force simulation on classical supercomputers.
Increasing the count rate (CR) is one of the key issues in the development of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) for different applications. This study aims to design, ...fabricate, and analyze a 16-pixel interleaved nanowire SNSPD array, which exhibits a system detection efficiency (SDE) of 72% and a dark CR of 100 Hz at a low-photon-flux limit and a wavelength of 1550 nm. By exploiting the increased pixel number and reduced dead time (<;5 ns) of each nanowire, the SNSPD array attained a maximum CR of 1.5 GHz with an SDE of ~12% at a photon flux of 1.26 × 10 10 photons/s. Moreover, the SNSPD achieved a photon number resolution of up to 16 photons.
Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI QKD) removes all detector side channels and enables secure QKD with an untrusted relay. It is suitable for building a star-type quantum ...access network, where the complicated and expensive measurement devices are placed in the central untrusted relay and each user requires only a low-cost transmitter, such as an integrated photonic chip. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a 1.25-GHz silicon photonic chip-based MDI QKD system using polarization encoding. The photonic chip transmitters integrate the necessary encoding components for a standard QKD source. We implement random modulations of polarization states and decoy intensities, and demonstrate a finite-key secret rate of31bit/sover 36-dB channel loss (or 180-km standard fiber). This key rate is higher than state-of-the-art MDI QKD experiments. The results show that silicon photonic chip-based MDI QKD, benefiting from miniaturization, low-cost manufacture, and compatibility with CMOS microelectronics, is a promising solution for future quantum secure networks.
Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD), based on two-photon interference, is immune to all attacks against the detection system and allows a QKD network with untrusted ...relays. Since the MDI-QKD protocol was proposed, fiber-based implementations aimed at longer distance, higher key rates, and network verification have been rapidly developed. However, owing to the effect of atmospheric turbulence, MDI-QKD over a free-space channel remains experimentally challenging. Herein, by developing a robust adaptive optics system, high-precision time synchronization and frequency locking between independent photon sources located far apart, we realized the first free-space MDI-QKD over a 19.2-km urban atmospheric channel, which well exceeds the effective atmospheric thickness. Our experiment takes the first step toward satellite-based MDI-QKD. Moreover, the technology developed herein opens the way to quantum experiments in free space involving long-distance interference of independent single photons.
The rapid development of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors over the past decade has led to numerous advances in quantum information technology. The record for the best system detection ...efficiency at an incident photon wavelength of 1550 nm is 93%. This performance was attained from a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector made of amorphous WSi; such detectors are usually operated at sub-Kelvin temperatures. In this study, we first demonstrate superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors made of polycrystalline NbN with system detection efficiency of 90.2% for 1550-nm-wavelength photons at2.1 K, accessible with a compact cryocooler. The system detection efficiency saturated at 92.1% when the temperature was lowered to 1.8 K. We expect the results lighten the practical and high performance superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors to quantum information and other high-end applications.
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