Abstracts

Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors onaluminum nitride photonic integrated circuits; SNSPD on AlN photonic integrated circuits

by Di SM Zhu




Institution: MIT
Department:
Year: 2017
Keywords: Electrical Engineering and ComputerScience.
Posted: 02/01/2018
Record ID: 2190475
Full text PDF: http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/108974


Abstract

With recent advances in integrated single-photonsources and quantum memories, onchip integration ofhigh-performance single-photon detectors becomes increasinglyimportant. The superconducting nanowire single-photon detector(SNSPD) is the leading single-photon counting technology forquantum information processing. Among various waveguide materials,aluminum nitride (AlN) is a promising candidate because of itsexceptionally wide bandgap, and intrinsic piezoelectric andelectro-optic properties. In this Master's thesis, we developed acomplete fabrication process for making high-performance niobiumnitride SNSPDs on AlN, and demonstrated their integration with AlNphotonic waveguides. The detectors fabricated on this new substratematerial have demonstrated saturated detection efficiency fromvisible to near-IR, sub-60-ps timing jitter, and ~6 ns reset time.This work will contribute towards building a fully integratedquantum photonic processor.Advisors/Committee Members: Karl K. Berggren (advisor).