Broadband on-chip single-photon spectrometer

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 4104 - 7
• Main Authors: Cheng, Risheng, Zou, Chang-Ling, Guo, Xiang, Wang, Sihao, Han, Xu, Tang, Hong X.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 10.09.2019; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 142/126; 639/624/1075/1079; 639/624/1075/1083; 639/925/927/1021; 639/925/927/1064; Broadband; Channels; Design; Echelle gratings; Humanities and Social Sciences; Mapping; multidisciplinary; Nanotechnology; Nanowires; Photon counters; Photons; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Semiconductors; Sensors; Silicon nitride; Spectrometers; Velocity; Wavelength
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12149-x

Single-photon counters are single-pixel binary devices that click upon the absorption of a photon but obscure its spectral information, whereas resolving the color of detected photons has been in critical demand for frontier astronomical observation, spectroscopic imaging and wavelength division multiplexed quantum communications. Current implementations of single-photon spectrometers either consist of bulky wavelength-scanning components or have limited detection channels, preventing parallel detection of broadband single photons with high spectral resolutions. Here, we present the first broadband chip-scale single-photon spectrometer covering both visible and infrared wavebands spanning from 600 nm to 2000 nm. The spectrometer integrates an on-chip dispersive echelle grating with a single-element propagating superconducting nanowire detector of ultraslow-velocity for mapping the dispersed photons with high spatial resolutions. The demonstrated on-chip single-photon spectrometer features small device footprint, high robustness with no moving parts and meanwhile offers more than 200 equivalent wavelength detection channels with further scalability. Single photon devices are needed for many future technologies, but resolving the color of single photons in a compact architecture is still a challenge. The authors present a broadband, chip-scale spectrometer for measuring single photon wavelengths from 600 to 2000 nm with no moving parts.