%0 Journal Article %T Optical single-photon detection in micrometer-scale NbN bridges %A Korneeva, Y. P. %A Vodolazov, D. Y. %A Semenov, A. V. %A Florya, I. N. %A Simonov, N. %A Baeva, E. %A Korneev, A. A. %A Goltsman, G. N. %A Klapwijk, T. M. %J Phys. Rev. Applied %D 2018 %V 9 %N 6 %@ 2331-7019 %F Korneeva_etal2018 %O exported from refbase (https://db.rplab.ru/refbase/show.php?record=1303), last updated on Sun, 09 May 2021 18:13:31 -0500 %X We demonstrate experimentally that single-photon detection can be achieved in micrometer-wide NbN bridges, with widths ranging from 0.53 to 5.15  μm and for photon wavelengths of 408 to 1550 nm. The microbridges are biased with a dc current close to the experimental critical current, which is estimated to be about 50% of the theoretically expected depairing current. These results offer an alternative to the standard superconducting single-photon detectors, based on nanometer-scale nanowires implemented in a long meandering structure. The results are consistent with improved theoretical modeling based on the theory of nonequilibrium superconductivity, including the vortex-assisted mechanism of initial dissipation. %K NbN SSPD %K SNSPD %R 10.1103/PhysRevApplied.9.064037 %U https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.9.064037 %U https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.9.064037 %P 064037 (1 to 13)