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- Title
Single-photon detection using large-scale high-temperature MgB<sub>2</sub> sensors at 20 K.
- Authors
Charaev, Ilya; Batson, Emma K.; Cherednichenko, Sergey; Reidy, Kate; Drakinskiy, Vladimir; Yu, Yang; Lara-Avila, Samuel; Thomsen, Joachim D.; Colangelo, Marco; Incalza, Francesca; Ilin, Konstantin; Schilling, Andreas; Berggren, Karl K.
- Abstract
Ultra-fast single-photon detectors with high current density and operating temperature can benefit space and ground applications, including quantum optical communication systems, lightweight cryogenics for space crafts, and medical use. Here we demonstrate magnesium diboride (MgB2) thin-film superconducting microwires capable of single-photon detection at 1.55 μm optical wavelength. We used helium ions to alter the properties of MgB2, resulting in microwire-based detectors exhibiting single-photon sensitivity across a broad temperature range of up to 20 K, and detection efficiency saturation for 1 μm wide microwires at 3.7 K. Linearity of detection rate vs incident power was preserved up to at least 100 Mcps. Despite the large active area of up to 400 × 400 μm2, the reset time was found to be as low as ~ 1 ns. Our research provides possibilities for breaking the operating temperature limit and maximum single-pixel count rate, expanding the detector area, and raises inquiries about the fundamental mechanisms of single-photon detection in high-critical-temperature superconductors. Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors require operation at T < 4 K, and successful attempts to extend their operation at 20 K and above using high-TC BSCCO flakes come at the cost of lower scalability to large areas. Here, the authors break this trade-off by using high-quality MgB2 films and exploiting a helium-ion beam-based irradiation process.
- Subjects
PHOTON detectors; PHOTON counting; OPTICAL communications; HELIUM ions; MAGNESIUM diboride; QUANTUM communication
- Publication
Nature Communications, 2024, Vol 15, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2041-1723
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/s41467-024-47353-x