# Intrinsically-limited timing jitter in molybdenum silicide superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors

## TL;DR

This paper investigates the fundamental limits of timing jitter in molybdenum silicide SNSPDs, revealing how device properties influence intrinsic jitter and reporting system jitter measurements at different wavelengths.

## Contribution

It provides the first detailed experimental analysis of the intrinsic timing jitter limits in MoSi SNSPDs, linking device properties to jitter performance.

## Key findings

- Intrinsic jitter depends on nanowire cross-section and energy.
- System jitter achieved is 6.0 ps at 532 nm and 10.6 ps at 1550 nm.
- Understanding device properties is key to improving timing resolution.

## Abstract

Recent progress in the development of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) has delivered excellent performances, and has had a great impact on a range of research fields. The timing jitter, which denotes the temporal resolution of the detection, is a crucial parameter for many applications. Despite extensive work since their apparition, the lowest jitter achievable with SNSPDs is still not clear, and the origin of the intrinsic limits is not fully understood. Understanding its intrinsic behaviour and limits is a mandatory step toward improvements. Here, we report our experimental study on the intrinsically-limited timing jitter in molybdenum silicide (MoSi) SNSPDs. We show that to reach intrinsic jitter, several detector properties such as the latching current and the kinetic inductance of the devices have to be understood. The dependence on the nanowire cross-section and the energy dependence of the intrinsic jitter are exhibited, and the origin of the limits are explicited. System timing jitter of 6.0 ps at 532 nm and 10.6 ps at 1550 nm photon wavelength have been obtained.