Investigation of NbRe for superconducting microstrips single photon detectors

Abstract

Superconducting Microstrips Single Photon Detectors (SMSPDs) are currently of crucial interest in numerous applications thanks to their excellent performance in terms of high detection efficiency, short jitter time, and low dark count rate, meeting the necessities of covering a large active area using low-cost technology. In this scenario, the research of new materials to detect from telecom (1550 nm) to mid-infrared wavelengths plays an important role. In this work we fabricated SMSPDs made of NbRe, an innovative material recently proposed in this field. We realized devices with different microstrip configurations based on single microstrips and pairs of parallel microstrips to investigate the role of the geometry. Single photon detection sensitivity at 1550 nm wavelength at a temperature of 1.79 K was demonstrated. The results obtained are encouraging for the photon detection with NbRe-based devices covering large areas.