Intrinsic quantum efficiency and electro-thermal model of a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector

Semenov, A. D.; Haas, P.; Hübers, Heinz‐Wilhelm; Ilin, K.; Siegel, M.; Kirste, A.; Drung, D.; Schurig, T.; Engel, A.

doi:10.1080/09500340802578589

Cited by 31 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Our continuous circular spirals have a unique geometry (see the left inset of Fig. 1) in which the currents flowing in neighboring turns are parallel, and approximately equal in magnitude, at least for the first few resonant modes, in contrast with the current flow profile in meander-line resonators used for photon counting 4 . In the spiral, the magnetic fields generated by flowing currents largely cancel in the region between the strips, leading to a self-field pattern nearly parallel to the plane of the spiral.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microscopic examination of hot spots giving rise to nonlinearity in superconducting resonators

et al. 2011

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We investigate the microscopic origins of nonlinear radio frequency (RF ) response in superconducting electromagnetic resonators. Strong non-linearity appearing in the transmission spectra at high input powers manifests itself through the emergence of jump-like features near the resonant frequency which evolve towards lower quality-factor with higher insertion loss as RF input power is increased. We directly relate these characteristics to the dynamics of localized normal regions (hot spots) caused by microscopic features in the superconducting material making up the resonator. A clear observation of hot spot formation inside a Nb thin film self-resonant structure is presented by employing the microwave laser scanning microscope, and a direct link between microscopic and macroscopic manifestations of nonlinearity is established.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microscopic examination of hot spots giving rise to nonlinearity in superconducting resonators

et al. 2011

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“…Additionally, this interest is warming up by a broad range of applications of thin superconducting films used for the development of fast and sensitive detectors [6] and mixers [7] of radiation. These devices operate at temperatures typically well below the critical temperature of the superconducting transition T C .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of thickness, width and temperature on critical current density of Nb thin film structures

Ilin

Rall

Siegel

et al. 2010

Physica C: Superconductivity

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“…The singlephoton absorption event leads to the formation of a nonequilibrium "hotspot" with suppressed superconductivity, the area of which grows in time, forming a normal belt across the strip [5]. The latter leads to redistribution of the current between the now resistive superconductor and a parallel shunt resistor, where a voltage pulse is detected, before a hotspot region cools down (on a timescale of few hundred picoseconds [6]) and the system returns to its initial superconducting state. Although the hotspot mechanism nicely explains the photon detection in the visible and near UV range, the detection mechanism in the near-infrared range is still debated (see e.g.…”

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confidence: 99%

Spatially dependent sensitivity of superconducting meanders as single-photon detectors

Berdiyorov

Miloševıć

Peeters

2012

Applied Physics Letters

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The photo-response of a thin current-carrying superconducting stripe with a 90-degree turn is studied within the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory. We show that the photon acting near the inner corner (where the current density is maximal due to the current crowding [J. R. Clem and K. K. Berggren, Phys. Rev. B 84, 174510 (2011)]) triggers the nucleation of superconducting vortices at currents much smaller than the expected critical one, but does not bring the system to a higher resistive state and thus remains undetected. The transition to the resistive state occurs only when the photon hits the stripe away from the corner due to there uniform current distribution across the sample, and dissipation is due to the nucleation of a kinematic vortex-antivortex pair near the photon incidence. We propose strategies to account for this problem in the measurements.PACS numbers: 74.78. Na, 74.25.Fy Superconducting current-carrying thin-film stripes have recently received a revival of interest due to their promising application for single-photon detection [1] with a high maximum count rate, broadband sensitivity, fast response time and low dark counts [2][3][4]. The singlephoton absorption event leads to the formation of a nonequilibrium "hotspot" with suppressed superconductivity, the area of which grows in time, forming a normal belt across the strip [5]. The latter leads to redistribution of the current between the now resistive superconductor and a parallel shunt resistor, where a voltage pulse is detected, before a hotspot region cools down (on a timescale of few hundred picoseconds [6]) and the system returns to its initial superconducting state. Although the hotspot mechanism nicely explains the photon detection in the visible and near UV range, the detection mechanism in the near-infrared range is still debated (see e.g. Ref. [7] and references therein). Superconducting fluctuations, e.g., excitation of superconducting vortices [8][9][10][11][12], have been put forward as an explanation. Dissipative crossing of such vortices, which hop over the edge barrier, or are created due to the unbinding of thermally activated vortex-antivortex pairs, provides a good description of the experiment [10]. This vortex-based mechanism was also shown to be the dominating origin for dark counts [11,12,14], which leads to decoherence in the photon detection process.To increase the efficiency of the photon counting, detectors are usually fabricated as a meandering superconducting wire [3]. However, these structures are vulnerable to edge imperfections [3], which significantly reduce the photon counting rate. Moreover, the critical current in these systems is mostly determined by sharp inner corners where the supercurrent density is maximal due to current crowding [15,16]. While the appearance of edge imperfections can be reduced by present day technology [3], the effect of current crowding in such meandering geometries still demands further investigations.In this work we therefore study the effect of the turns of a meandering s...

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Intrinsic quantum efficiency and electro-thermal model of a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector

Cited by 31 publications

References 16 publications

Microscopic examination of hot spots giving rise to nonlinearity in superconducting resonators

Microscopic examination of hot spots giving rise to nonlinearity in superconducting resonators

Influence of thickness, width and temperature on critical current density of Nb thin film structures

Spatially dependent sensitivity of superconducting meanders as single-photon detectors

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