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Journal of Low Temperature Physics

Investigation of Superconducting Molybdenum Silicide Nanostrips and Microstrips for Single Photon Detectors

L. Parlato, Daniela Salvoni, Mikkel Ejrnaes, F. Mattioli, Alessandro Gaggero, F. Martini, D. Massarotti, Domenico Montemurro, Roberta Satariano, Raffaella Ferraiuolo, Federico Chianese, Francesco Tafuri, Roberto Cristiano, Giovanni Piero Pepe

Published Sep 5, 2022• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract Superconducting nanostrip single photon detectors have emerged as the highest performing single-photon detectors; however, the possibility to use superconducting microstrip as single photon detectors is very appealing both to use them as larger areas detectors and for an easier technology in the manufacturing. The aim of this work is to test the photoresponse in liquid helium dewar of 9 nm thick MoSi covered with a very thin (2 nm) layer of Al, in two different configurations: nanomeanders and microstrips. We demonstrate that MoSi/Al microstrips can work as photodetectors also at T = 4.2 K. We also compare the dark count rate of the microstrip and the nanowire, confirming the lower noise for the microstrips also at 4.2 K.

DOI
10.1007/s10909-022-02821-w

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Abstract Superconducting nanostrip single photon detectors have emerged as the highest performing single-photon detectors; however, the possibility to use superconducting microstrip as single photon detectors is very appealing both to use them as larger areas detectors and for an easier technology in the manufacturing. The aim of this work is to test the photoresponse in liquid helium dewar of 9 nm thick MoSi covered with a very thin (2 nm) layer of Al, in two different configurations: nanomeanders and microstrips. We demonstrate that MoSi/Al microstrips can work as photodetectors also at T = 4.2 K. We also compare the dark count rate of the microstrip and the nanowire, confirming the lower noise for the microstrips also at 4.2 K.
When superconducting materials work as Single Photon Detectors (SPD) they are patterned in nanostrips about 100 nm wide with a typical meander structure to increase the photosensitive area. Moreover, they are biased by a DC current close to the critical current to have higher efficiency. The critical current could be non uniform mainly in proximity of the turn bends producing an increase of the dark count events. In this work MoSi nano-strips covered with a very thin (2 nm) layer of Al, have been realized and characterized in a wide interval of temperatures from 6 K down to 7 mK to investigate the critical current as a function of the temperature and then its uniformity in the presence of sharp corners and/or turn-arounds. Finally, the counts rates were recorded by a nano-meander under irradiation at two different wavelengths λ = 650 nm and 1550 nm, respectively, and compared with the events in the dark regime.
Single photon detectors (SPD) are largely used when the signal to be measured is particularly low or if high accuracy, timing resolution and low noise are required. About twenty years ago, a new type of SPD based on superconducting materials appeared, and today these devices present the best performances in terms of efficiency, noise, counting rate, detectable wavelength, dead time, and timing jitter. In this work, we first describe the working principle of Superconducting Nanostrips Single Photon Detectors (SNSPDs) and provide a brief overview of the main properties and applications. Then, we present the results of the fabrication and characterization of Molybdenum Silicide SNSPDs with a cover layer of a thin Aluminium film (MoSi/Al). MoSi has already been adopted to fabricate SNSPDs, and in this work, we prove that the additional Al layer enhances the operating conditions without compromising the detection likelihood and leaving unaltered the properties of the device, even over a temporal window of two years and after several thermal cycles.
Abstract Superconducting microstrip single photon detectors (SMSPDs) received great interest since they are expected to combine the excellent performance of superconducting nanostrip single photon detectors with the possibility to cover large active areas using low-cost fabrication techniques. In this work, we fabricated SMSPDs based on NbRe to investigate the role of vortices in the dark counts events in this innovative material and in devices with micrometer size. We realized devices with different layouts, namely single microstrips and pairs of parallel microstrips. The energy barriers related to the motion of single vortices or vortex–antivortex pairs, responsible of detection events, have been determined and compared with the ones of similar devices based on different materials, such as MoSi, WSi and NbN. The analysis confirms the high potential of NbRe for the realization of superconducting single photon detectors with large areas.
Superconducting microstrip single-photon detectors (SMSPDs) with near-infrared sensitivity have significant advantages in terms of high quantum efficiency and low dark counts in a large active area. Hole-patterned superconductor microstrips have been reported for fast and efficient single-photon detection. In this work, we fabricated and characterized hole-patterned microstrips with different hole diameters on 5 nm thick MoSi films and an area of 500 × 500 μm2. We observed that the count rate curves of detectors 2 and 3 with holes tend to saturate slightly, whereas those of detector 1 without holes do not. Furthermore, the dark count is similar between detector 1 without holes and detector 2 with small holes and much lower than that of detector 3 with large holes. These experiments indicate that a proper hole is beneficial for efficiency without increasing the dark count rate.
Superconducting single-photon detectors (SNSPDs or SSPDs) based on superconducting nanowires offer single photon sensitivity at telecom wavelengths coupled with free running operation, high timing resolution and low dark counts. Amorphous superconducting materials open the pathway to improved yield and integration in advanced photonic applications. We report simulation, fabrication and experimental validation of waveguide integrated molybdenum silicide (MoSi) SNSPDs for scalable integration in quantum photonic circuits.
In this Letter, we report on pattern engineering in superconducting microstrips to achieve a fast and efficient detection of a single-photon over a large detection area. The proposed detector is composed of hole-patterned superconductor microstrips fabricated with a 5-nm-thick amorphous molybdenum silicide film. It exhibits a saturated internal detection efficiency at 1550 nm with a negligible dark count rate and a recovery time of 9 ns with a large detection area (50 × 50 μm2). The simulation reveals that the holes patterned in the superconductor microstrip stimulate the nucleation of the vortex, which constitutes a major key to achieving the efficient detection of photons. This work paves the way for the facile and prolonged regulation of vortex nucleation in superconductors, which shows promise for developing high-performance large-area superconductor single-photon detectors.