Abstract
Coincidence measurement of photon pairs over a large spatial mode is crucial for revealing non-classical phenomena and advancing quantum information technologies, which usually require an increased number of time-resolved single-photon detectors. Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors stand out for their superior detection metrics and on-chip integration feasibility. However, their array frameworks usually only enable the localization of one photon. Here we propose a two-terminal two-photon coincidence counter using superconducting nanowire transmission lines with customized delay-time series. Using combinatorial time logic and amplitude multiplexing, our device successfully resolves all 152 potential single- and two-photon events in a 16-pixel configuration. Compared with traditional superconducting single-photon detector arrays, the device also exhibits a higher dynamic range in classical low-photon-flux sampling by efficiently suppressing multi-photon distortion. This innovative array architecture showcases self-coincidence counting, scalability and straightforward readout, making it promising for large-scale on-chip coincidence measurement in quantum information processing, as well as high-dynamic-range single-photon imaging and sensing in low-light environments.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are reported in the Article and its Supplementary Information. Source data are provided with this paper.
Code availability
The codes that support this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the SIMIT-SNSPD group for technical assistance with the measurement instruments, and the Superconducting Electronics Facility (SELF) group for technical support with nanofabrication. This work was supported by the Innovation Program for Quantum Science and Technology (no. 2023ZD0300100) and the National Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 62301541, 61971408, 61827823 and 12033007). L.-D.K. acknowledges support from the Shanghai Sailing Program (grant no. 23YF1456200).
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L.-D.K. conceived the idea, designed the device and performed the measurements. T.-Z.Z., X.-Y.L. and J.-M.X. fabricated the device. X.Z. and T.-Z.Z. helped with the cryogenic set-up. H.L., Z.W. and X.-M.X. helped with the measurement. All the authors discussed the results. L.-D.K. and L.-X.Y. wrote the paper with input from all authors.
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Kong, LD., Zhang, TZ., Liu, XY. et al. A superconducting nanowire two-photon coincidence counter with combinatorial time logic and amplitude multiplexing. Nat. Photon. 19, 407–414 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-024-01613-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-024-01613-w
