UV superconducting nanowire single-photondetectors with high efficiency, low noise, and4 K operating temperature

Published

October 18, 2017

Author(s)

Varun Verma, Adriana Lita, Richard Mirin, Sae Woo Nam, Emma Wollman, Andrew Beyer, Ryan Briggs, Francesco Marsili, Jason Allmaras, Matthew Shaw

Abstract

For photon-counting applications at ultraviolet wavelengths, there are currently nodetectors that combine high efficiency (> 50%), sub-nanosecond timing resolution, and sub-Hz dark count rates. Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) have seen success over the past decade for photon-counting applications in the near-infrared, but little work has been done to optimize SNSPDs for wavelengths below 400 nm. Here, we describe the design, fabrication, and haracterization of UV SNSPDs operating at wavelengths between 250 and 370 nm. The detectors have active areas up to 56 υm, 70 - 80% efficiency, timing resolution down to 60 ps FWHM, blindness to visible and infrared photons, and dark count rates of 0.01 counts/hr for a 10x10 υm pixel. By using the amorphous superconductor MoSi, these UV SNSPDs are also able to operate at temperatures up to 4.2 K. Such performance makes UV SNSPDs ideal for applications in trapped-ion quantum information processing, lidar studies of the upper atmosphere, UV fluorescent-lifetime imaging microscopy, and photon-starved UV astronomy.

Citation

Optics Express

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

superconducting nanowire, single-photon detector

Citation

Verma, V. , Lita, A. , Mirin, R. , Nam, S. , Wollman, E. , Beyer, A. , Briggs, R. , Marsili, F. , Allmaras, J. and Shaw, M. (2017), UV superconducting nanowire single-photondetectors with high efficiency, low noise, and4 K operating temperature, Optics Express, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=923760 (Accessed October 10, 2025)