Soft X-Ray Single-Photon Detection With Superconducting Tantalum Nitride and Niobium Nanowires

Author

Inderbitzin, K. ; Engel, Andreas ; Schilling, Andreas

Author_Institution

Phys. Inst., Univ. of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Volume

23

Issue

3

fYear

2013

fDate

41426

Firstpage

2200505

Lastpage

2200505

Abstract

We have fabricated ultrafast dark count-free soft X-ray single-photon detectors (X-SNSPDs) from TaN with various conduction path widths, and we compare their properties with corresponding data from a Nb X-SNSPD. The TaN X-SNSPDs offer an improved detector performance regarding device detection efficiency, latching, and pulse amplitudes. Wide conduction paths allow for a certain energy-resolving capability in contrast to narrow TaN conduction paths. However, wide paths also limit the detection efficiency at low temperatures, which can be explained within a hot-spot model.

Keywords

nanowires; superconducting devices; X-SNSPD; device detection efficiency; latching; niobium nanowires; pulse amplitudes; superconducting tantalum nitride; ultrafast dark count-free soft X-ray single-photon detectors; Detectors; Films; Nanowires; Niobium; Photonics; Temperature; Temperature measurement; Nanofabrication; soft X-ray detectors; superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors; superconductors; tantalum nitride;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Applied Superconductivity, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1051-8223

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TASC.2012.2234496

Filename

6384686