Optical Transition-Edge Sensors Development and Applications

Superconducting single-photon detectors have become the preferred technology for photonic quantum information applications because of their high detection efficiency, fast timing performance and low noise for wide spectral sensitivity spanning UV to IR spectrum. Transition-Edge Sensors (TES) are superconducting detectors with intrinsic photon-number-resolving capability that have been optimized for high system detection efficiency (> 95%) at target wavelengths from visible to near IR.

In this webinar hosted by the Photonic Detection Technical Group, Adriana Lita will review the TES detector principle of operation, as well as progress and challenges in developing an ideal single-photon detector with simultaneously high detection efficiency, low noise, high photon number resolving capability, and high speed. Lita will also present some representative applications of optical TES detectors.

Subject Matter Level: Intermediate - Assumes basic knowledge of the topic

What You Will Learn:
• Fundamental principles behind the operation of optical Transition-Edge Sensors (TES) and their photonnumber-
resolving capabilities.
• Recent advances and ongoing challenges in developing superconducting single-photon detectors with high
efficiency, low noise, and high-speed performance.
• Key applications of TES detectors in quantum optics, photonic quantum computing, and quantum metrology.

Who Should Attend:
• Researchers and engineers working in quantum optics, quantum information, and photonics.
• Scientists and students interested in the development and application of superconducting single-photon detectors.

About the Presenter: Adriana E. Lita from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder

Adriana E. Lita is a member of the Faint Photonics Group at NIST-Boulder where she works on fabrication and development of single-photon detectors such as transition-edge sensors (TES) and superconducting nanowires single-photon detectors (SNSPD) devices. Her work includes development of record high quantum efficiency TES devices optimized at various wavelengths from UV to near IR, integration of TES with optical waveguides platforms for photonic circuits, as well as materials development for single-photon detectors. These superconducting single-photon detectors have been widely used in applications ranging from testing fundamental laws of quantum mechanics to metrology of quantum light states and implementations of photonic quantum computing.