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PUBLICATIONS

Superconducting nanowire single-photon detector in an optical stack for front-side illumination

Published

Author(s)

Burm Baek, Jeffrey A. Stern, Sae Woo Nam

Abstract

We have integrated superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors SNSPDs with an optical cavity design for front-side illumination. Our optical cavity design increases the coupling efficiency of light to the nanowire detector and enables straightforward proximity fiber-coupling for a multichannel detector system. Using a confocal optical scanning technique, we measured a significantly enhanced optical absorptance of 73% in comparison with 20% in a typical bare nanowire device at 1550 nm and 3 K. Our method of fabrication of these devices on a silicon wafer and the local optical absorptance measurement are important steps toward developing next-generation SNSPD technology.
Citation
Applied Physics Letters
Volume
95
Pub Type
Journals

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Keywords

Superconducting nanowire single-photon detector, SNSPD, SSPD, Cryogenic detector, Optical coating, Optical measurement, Scanning probe microscopy, Integrated photonics
Quantum information science

Citation

Baek, B. , Stern, J. and Nam, S. (2009), Superconducting nanowire single-photon detector in an optical stack for front-side illumination, Applied Physics Letters, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=903071 (Accessed October 20, 2025)

Issues

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Created November 12, 2009, Updated February 19, 2017
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