Single-photon detection using high-temperature cuprate superconductors

Charaev, I.; Bandurin, D. A.; Bollinger, A. T.; Phinney, I. Y.; Drozdov, I.; Colangelo, M.; Butters, B. A.; Taniguchi, T.; Watanabe, K.; He, X.; Bozovic, Ivan; Jarillo-Herrero, P.; Berggren, K. K.

doi:10.1038/s41565-023-01325-2

Title: Single-photon detection using high-temperature cuprate superconductors

Journal Article · Mon Mar 20 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Nature Nanotechnology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-023-01325-2· OSTI ID:1960165

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); University of Zurich (Switzerland)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); National University of Singapore (Singapore)
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
National Institute of Material Science, Tsukuba (Japan)
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Yale University, New Haven, CT (United States)

The detection of individual quanta of light is important for quantum computation, fluorescence lifetime imaging, single-molecule detection, remote sensing, correlation spectroscopy, and more. Thanks to their broadband operation, high detection efficiency, exceptional signal-to-noise ratio, and fast recovery times, superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) have become a critical component in these applications. The operation of SNSPDs based on conventional superconductors, which have a low critical temperature (T_c), requires costly and bulky cryocoolers. This motivated exploration of other superconducting materials with higher T_c that would enable single-photon detection at elevated temperatures, yet this task has proven exceedingly difficult. Here we show that with proper processing, high-T_c cuprate superconductors can meet this challenge. We fabricated superconducting nanowires (SNWs) out of thin flakes of Bi₂Sr₂CaCu2O_8+δand La_1.55Sr_0.45CuO₄/La₂CuO₄ (LSCO-LCO) bilayer films and demonstrated their single-photon response up to 25 and 8 K, respectively. The single-photon operation is revealed through the linear scaling of the photon count rate (PCR) on the radiation power. Both of our cuprate-based SNSPDs exhibited single-photon sensitivity at the technologically-important 1.5 μm telecommunications wavelength. Our work expands the family of superconducting materials for SNSPD technology, opens the prospects of raising the temperature ceiling, and raises important questions about the underlying mechanisms of single-photon detection by unconventional superconductors.

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Research Organization:: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR); National Science Foundation (NSF); Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; Brookhaven Science Associates

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0012704; FA9550-21-1-0319; 1936263; GBMF9463; 030814-00001; GBMF9074

OSTI ID:: 1960165

Report Number(s):: BNL-223902-2023-JAAM; TRN: US2312944

Journal Information:: Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 18, Issue 4; ISSN 1748-3387

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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