Photon counting LIDAR at 23µm wavelength with superconducting nanowires

• DOI: 10.1364/oe.27.038147
• Publication Date: 2019-12-16T20:45:49Z
• Authors: Gregor G. Taylor; Dmitry Morozov; Nathan R. Gemmell; Kleanthis Erotokr...; Shigehito Miki; Hirotaka Terai; Robert H. Hadfield
• Keywords: Photon Counting

In this work, we show a proof-of-principle benchtop single-photon light detection and ranging (LIDAR) depth imager at 2.3µm, utilizing superconducting nanowire detectors (SNSPDs).We fabricate fiber-couple SNSPDs to exhibit enhanced photon counting performance in the mid-infrared.We present characterization results using an optical parametric oscillator source deploy these scanning LIDAR setup 2.3µm wavelength.This demonstrates viability of for future free-space applications mid-infrared where atmospheric absorption background solar flux are low.