Detecting nonclassical light is a central requirement for photonics-based quantum technologies. Unrivaled high efficiencies and low dark counts have positioned superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) as the leading detector technology for integrated photonic applications. However, a central challenge lies in their integration within photonic integrated circuits, regardless of material platform or surface topography. Here, we introduce a method based on transfer printing that overcomes these constraints and allows for the integration of SNSPDs onto arbitrary photonic substrates. With a kinetically controlled elastomer stamp, we transfer suspended SNSPDs onto commercially manufactured silicon and lithium niobate on insulator integrated photonic circuits. Focused ion beam metal deposition then wires the detectors to the circuits, thereby allowing us to monitor photon counts with >7% detection efficiencies. Our method eliminates detector integration bottlenecks and provides new venues for versatile, accessible, and scalable quantum information processors.

Smart gas-sensor devices are of crucial importance for emerging consumer electronics and Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications, in particular for indoor and outdoor air quality monitoring (e.g., CO2 levels) or for detecting pollutants harmful for human health. Chemoresistive nanosensors based on metal-oxide semiconductors are among the most promising technologies due to their high sensitivity and suitability for scalable low-cost fabrication of miniaturised devices. However, poor selectivity between different target analytes restrains this technology from broader applicability. This is commonly addressed by chemical functionalisation of the sensor surface via catalytic nanoparticles. Yet, while the latter led to significant advances in gas selectivity, nanocatalyst decoration with precise size and coverage control remains challenging. Here, we present CMOS-integrated gas sensors based on tin oxide (SnO2) films deposited by spray pyrolysis technology, which were functionalised with platinum (Pt) nanocatalysts. We deposited size-selected Pt nanoparticles (narrow size distribution around 3 nm) by magnetron-sputtering inert-gas condensation, a technique which enables straightforward surface coverage control. The resulting impact on SnO2 sensor properties for CO and volatile organic compound (VOC) detection via functionalisation was investigated. We identified an upper threshold for nanoparticle deposition time above which increased surface coverage did not result in further CO or VOC sensitivity enhancement. Most importantly, we demonstrate a method to adjust the selectivity between these target gases by simply adjusting the Pt nanoparticle deposition time. Using a simple computational model for nanocatalyst coverage resulting from random gas-phase deposition, we support our findings and discuss the effects of nanoparticle coalescence as well as inter-particle distances on sensor functionalisation.

In this paper, we review the research and development of the fractal superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs), including our demonstrations of high-performance devices and systems with over 80% system detection efficiency, negligibly low residual polarization sensitivity, and low timing jitter. Using the fractal SNSPDs, we demonstrate full-Stokes polarimetric imaging LiDAR.

Since their first demonstration in 2001 [Gol’tsman et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 79, 705-707 (2001)], superconducting-nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) have witnessed two decades of great developments. SNSPDs are the detector of choice in most modern quantum optics experiments and are slowly finding their way into other photon-starved fields of optics. Until now, however, in nearly all experiments, SNSPDs were used as “binary” detectors, meaning that they could only distinguish between 0 and > = 1 photons, and photon number information was lost. Recent research has demonstrated proof-of-principle photon-number resolution (PNR) SNSPDs counting 2-5 photons. The photon-number-resolving capability is highly demanded in various quantum-optics experiments, including Hong-Ou-Mandel interference, photonic quantum computing, quantum communication, and non-Gaussian quantum state preparation. In particular, PNR detectors at the wavelength range of 850-950 nm are of great interest due to the availability of high-quality semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) [Heindel et al., Adv. Opt. Photonics 15, 613-738 (2023)] and high-performance cesium-based quantum memories [Ma et al., J. Opt. 19, 043001 (2017)]. In this paper, we demonstrate NbTiN-based SNSPDs with >94% system detection efficiency, sub-11 ps timing jitter for one photon, and sub-7 ps for 2 photons. More importantly, our detectors resolve up to 7 photons using conventional cryogenic electric readout circuitry. Through theoretical analysis, we show that the PNR performance of demonstrated detectors can be further improved by enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio and bandwidth of our readout circuitry. Our results are promising for the future of optical quantum computing and quantum communication.

Large-scale quantum photonics requires the integration of several elements on the same chip, including quantum emitters and memories, active photonics, and single-photon detectors. In this talk, I will report on i) our recent work integrating superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPD) with mechanically reconfigurable integrated photonics, and ii) our recently developed method for integration of SNSPDs onto arbitrary photonic substrates.

Heat transport in bulk materials is well described using the Debye theory of three-dimensional vibrational modes (phonons) and the acoustic match model. However, in cryogenic nanodevices, phonon wavelengths exceed device dimensions, leading to confinement effects that standard models fail to address. With the growing application of low-temperature devices in communication, sensing, and quantum technologies, there is an urgent need for models that accurately describe heat transport under confinement. We introduce a computational approach to obtain phonon heat capacity and heat transport rates between solids in various confined geometries that can be easily integrated into, e.g., the standard two-temperature model. Confinement significantly reduces heat capacity and may slow down heat transport. We validate our model with experiments on strongly disordered NbTiN superconducting nanostructure, widely used in highly efficient single-photon detectors, and we argue that confinement is due to their polycrystalline granular structure. These findings point to potential advances in cryogenic device performance through tailored material and microstructure engineering.

NbTiN has a high critical temperature (Tc) of up to 17 K, making it a great candidate for superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) and other applications requiring a bias current close to the depairing current. However, superconducting inhomogeneities are often observed in superconducting thin films, and superconducting inhomogeneities can influence the vortex nucleation barrier and furthermore affect the critical current Ic of a superconducting wire. Superconducting inhomogeneities can also result in stochastic variations in the critical current between identical devices, and therefore, it is crucial to have a detailed understanding of inhomogeneities in SNSPDs in order to improve device efficiency. In this study, we utilized scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS) to investigate the inhomogeneity of superconducting properties in meandered NbTiN nanowires, which are commonly used in SNSPDs. Our findings show that variations in the superconducting gap are strongly correlated with the film thickness. By using time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau simulations and statistical modeling, we explored the implications of the reduction in the critical current and its sample-to-sample variations. Our study suggests that the thickness of NbTiN plays a critical role in achieving homogeneity in superconducting properties.

Quantum technologies are poised to move the foundational principles of quantum physics to the forefront of applications. This roadmap identifies some of the key challenges and provides insights on material innovations underlying a range of exciting quantum technology frontiers. Over the past decades, hardware platforms enabling different quantum technologies have reached varying levels of maturity. This has allowed for first proof-of-principle demonstrations of quantum supremacy, for example quantum computers surpassing their classical counterparts, quantum communication with reliable security guaranteed by laws of quantum mechanics, and quantum sensors uniting the advantages of high sensitivity, high spatial resolution, and small footprints. In all cases, however, advancing these technologies to the next level of applications in relevant environments requires further development and innovations in the underlying materials. From a wealth of hardware platforms, we select representative and promising material systems in currently investigated quantum technologies. These include both the inherent quantum bit systems and materials playing supportive or enabling roles, and cover trapped ions, neutral atom arrays, rare earth ion systems, donors in silicon, color centers and defects in wide-band gap materials, two-dimensional materials and superconducting materials for single-photon detectors. Advancing these materials frontiers will require innovations from a diverse community of scientific expertise, and hence this roadmap will be of interest to a broad spectrum of disciplines.

We demonstrate a fiber-coupled f ractal s uperconducting n anowire single-photon detector working in dual bands, with 91% system detection efficiency (SDE) at the wavelength of 1540 nm and with 61% SDE at 520 nm.

We demonstrate a fiber-coupled fractal superconducting nanowire single-photon detector working in dual bands, with 91% system detection efficiency (SDE) at the wavelength of 1540 nm and with 61% SDE at 520 nm.