Single-photon detection using magnesium diboride superconducting nanowires
Abstract
We fabricated 10 nm thick MgB2 nanowires with a width down to 100 nm using the liftoff process. The I-V characteristics of the nanowire show hysteresis and a sharp voltage jump at Ic. Though a 150 nm wide nanowire exhibits the capacity for detecting a single photon at 405 nm wavelength, the nanowire is too wide to detect a single photon at 1560 nm. A 100 nm wide nanowire exhibits the capacity for detecting single photons in the 405-1560 nm wavelength range. This indicates a possible application of MgB2 as a high-performance superconducting nanowire single-photon detector.
- Publication:
-
Applied Physics Letters
- Pub Date:
- November 2010
- DOI:
- 10.1063/1.3518723
- Bibcode:
- 2010ApPhL..97u2504S
- Keywords:
-
- magnesium compounds;
- nanowires;
- type II superconductors;
- 74.25.-q;
- 73.21.Hb;
- 74.70.-b;
- 74.70.Ad;
- Properties of type I and type II superconductors;
- Quantum wires;
- Superconducting materials;
- Metals;
- alloys and binary compounds