Single photon detection with superconducting nanowires on crystalline silicon carbide

Opt Express. 2019 Oct 14;27(21):29669-29675. doi: 10.1364/OE.27.029669.

Abstract

Silicon carbide (SiC) is among the most promising optical materials for the realization of classical and quantum photonics, due to the simultaneous presence of quantum emitters and a non-centrosymmetric crystal structure. In recent years, progress have been made in the development of SiC integrated optical components making this a mature platform for the implementation of quantum experiments on chip. Toward this scope, the fabrication of a single photon detector that can be implemented on top of a photonic circuit is essential to achieve a monolithic integration of all the fundamental building blocks required for photonic quantum technologies. Here we demonstrate for the first time single photon detection with superconducting nanowires on top of a bare 3C SiC layer using a novel approach for the fiber-to-detector coupling that allows the optical characterization of multiple detectors without the use of neither cryogenic positioners nor the micromachining of the substrate.