Schuck C, Pernice WHP, Minaeva O, Li M, Gol'tsman G, Sergienko AV, et al. Matrix of integrated superconducting single-photon detectors with high timing resolution. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 2013;23(3):2201007.
Abstract: We demonstrate a large grid of individually addressable superconducting single photon detectors on a single chip. Each detector element is fully integrated into an independent waveguide circuit with custom functionality at telecom wavelengths. High device density is achieved by fabricating the nanowire detectors in traveling wave geometry directly on top of silicon-on-insulator waveguides. Our superconducting single photon detector matrix includes detector designs optimized for high detection efficiency, low dark count rate, and high timing accuracy. As an example, we exploit the high timing resolution of a particularly short nanowire design to resolve individual photon round-trips in a cavity ring-down measurement of a silicon ring resonator.
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Sclafani M, Marksteiner M, Keir FML, Divochiy A, Korneev A, Semenov A, et al. Sensitivity of a superconducting nanowire detector for single ions at low energy. Nanotechnol. 2012;23(6):065501 (1 to 5).
Abstract: We report on the characterization of a superconducting nanowire detector for ions at low kinetic energies. We measure the absolute single-particle detection efficiency eta and trace its increase with energy up to eta = 100%. We discuss the influence of noble gas adsorbates on the cryogenic surface and analyze their relevance for the detection of slow massive particles. We apply a recent model for the hot-spot formation to the incidence of atomic ions at energies between 0.2 and 1 keV. We suggest how the differences observed for photons and atoms or molecules can be related to the surface condition of the detector and we propose that the restoration of proper surface conditions may open a new avenue for SSPD-based optical spectroscopy on molecules and nanoparticles.
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Korneeva Y, Sidorova M, Semenov A, Krasnosvobodtsev S, Mitsen K, Korneev A, et al. Comparison of hot-spot formation in NbC and NbN single-photon detectors. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 2016;26(3):1–4.
Abstract: We report an experimental investigation of the hot-spot evolution in superconducting single-photon detectors made of disordered superconducting materials with different diffusivity and energy downconversion time values, i.e., 33-nm-thick NbN and 23-nm-thick NbC films. We have demonstrated that, in NbC film, only 405-nm photons produce sufficiently large hot spot to trigger a single-photon response. The dependence of detection efficiency on bias current for 405-nm photons in NbC is similar to that for 3400-nm photons in NbN. In NbC, large diffusivity and downconversion time result in 1-D critical current suppression profile compared with the usual 2-D profile in NbN.
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Zolotov PI, Semenov AV, Divochiy AV, Goltsman GN, Romanov NR, Klapwijk TM. Dependence of photon detection efficiency on normal-state sheet resistance in marginally superconducting films of NbN. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 2021;31(5):1–5.
Abstract: We present an extensive set of data on nanowire-type superconducting single-photon detectors based on niobium-nitride (NbN) to establish the empirical correlation between performance and the normal-state resistance per square. We focus, in particular, on the bias current, compared to the expected depairing current, needed to achieve a near-unity detection efficiency for photon detection. The data are discussed within the context of a model in which the photon energy triggers the movement of vortices i.e. superconducting dissipation, followed by thermal runaway. Since the model is based on the non-equilibrium theory for conventional superconductors deviations may occur, because the efficient regime is found when NbN acts as a marginal superconductor in which long-range phase coherence is frustrated.
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Zolotov P, Semenov A, Divochiy A, Goltsman G. A comparison of VN and NbN thin films towards optimal SNSPD efficiency. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 2021;31(5):1–4.
Abstract: Based on early phenomenological ideas about the operation of superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPD or SNSPD), it was expected that materials with a lower superconducting gap should perform better in the IR range. The plausibility of this concept could be checked using two popular SSPD materials – NbN and WSi films. However, these materials differ strongly in crystallographic structure (polycrystalline B1 versus amorphous), which makes their dependence on disorder different. In our work we present a study of the single-photon response of SSPDs made from two disordered B1 structure superconductors – vanadium nitride and niobium nitride thin films. We compare the intrinsic efficiency of devices made from films with different sheet resistance values. While both materials have a polycrystalline structure and comparable diffusion coefficient values, VN films show metallic behavior over a wide range of sheet resistance, in contrast to NbN films with an insulator-like temperature dependence of resistivity, which may be partially due to enhanced Coulomb interaction, leading to different starting points for the normal electron density of states. The results show that even though VN devices are more promising in terms of theoretical predictions, their optimal performance was not reached due to lower values of sheet resistance.
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