Polarization resolving and imaging with a single-photon sensitive superconducting nanowire array.
Polarization resolving and imaging with a single-photon sensitive superconducting nanowire array.
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DOI：
10.1364/oe.419627
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发表时间：
2021-03
期刊：
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Xingqu Sun;Wei-Jun Zhang;Cheng-Jun Zhang;L. You;Guangzhao Xu;Jia Huang;Hui Zhou;Hao Li;Zhen Wang;Xiaoming Xie
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Xingqu Sun;Wei-Jun Zhang;Cheng-Jun Zhang;L. You;Guangzhao Xu;Jia Huang;Hui Zhou;Hao Li;Zhen Wang;Xiaoming Xie
超导纳米线单光子探测器（SNSPD）因其出色的性能而在可见光和近红外单光子探测方面引起了人们的极大兴趣。然而，常规SNSPD通常用作二进制光子计数检测器。光的另一个重要特性是，可以提供对象的附加信息的偏振尚未使用独立SNSPD解决。在这项工作中，我们提出了第一个原型的偏振计的基础上的四个像素的超导纳米线阵列，能够解决线偏振光的偏振态在单光子水平。检测器阵列设计基于焦平面配置的划分，其中每个纳米线划分（像素）的取向偏移45°。每一个纳米线像素都是光子探测器和几乎线性偏振滤波器的组合，平均偏振消光比为100。当探测器阵列与1550 nm光子自由空间耦合并照射时，在总暗计数率为680 cps，定时抖动为126 ps时，阵列的总系统探测效率为10.1%。偏振角和线偏振度的平均测量误差分别为-3°和0.12。此外，我们成功地证明了偏振成像在低光水平使用所提出的探测器。我们的研究结果铺平了道路，单光子灵敏，快速，大规模集成偏振偏振计或成像仪的发展。这种探测器在高时空分辨率的光子饥饿偏振分辨和成像中有着广阔的应用前景。
Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) have attracted remarkable interest for visible and near-infrared single-photon detection due to their outstanding performance. However, conventional SNSPDs are generally used as binary photon-counting detectors. Another important characteristic of light, i.e., polarization, which can provide additional information of the object, has not been resolved using the standalone SNSPD. In this work, we present a first prototype of the polarimeter based on a four-pixel superconducting nanowire array, capable of resolving the polarization state of linearly-polarized light at the single-photon level. The detector array design is based on a division of focal plane configuration in which the orientation of each nanowire division (pixel) is offset by 45°. Each single nanowire pixel operates as a combination of a photon detector and almost linear polarization filter, with an average polarization extinction ratio of ∼10. The total system detection efficiency of the array is ∼1% at a total dark count rate of 680 cps, with a timing jitter of 126 ps, when the detector array is free-space coupled and illuminated with 1550-nm photons. The mean errors of the measured angle of polarization and degree of linear polarization were about -3° and 0.12, respectively. Furthermore, we successfully demonstrated polarization imaging at low-light level using the proposed detector. Our results pave the way for the development of a single-photon sensitive, fast, and large-scale integrated polarization polarimeter or imager. Such detector may find promising application in photon-starved polarization resolving and imaging with high spatial and temporal resolution.