Investigation of Thin Film Supercurrent and Photodetection in Wide Niobium Nitride Wires
Name
Medeiros-omedeiro-SM-EECS-2022-thesis.pdf
Description
Thesis PDF
Size
30.11 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
d725dc408722131431c49eea1730805c
Author(s)
Medeiros, Owen
Advisor(s)
Berggren, Karl K.
Date Issued
May 2022
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Over the past two decades, superconducting nanowire single photon detectors have become the dominant platform for detection at telecommunication wavelengths. Despite their practical success, the theoretical framework that describes the detection mechanism within the nanowire is continually evolving. Early phenomenological models suggested that a hot region forms across the superconducting strip after the arrival of a photon, producing a measurable voltage only if the diameter of the hot region extends across the width of the strip. However, predictions based on the kinetic-equation approach showed that within a certain operating regime detection no longer depends on the strip’s width. This prediction was later supported by the experimental demonstration of single photon detection in strips 1-3 𝜇m wide. The ability to fabricate detectors with larger widths would allow for higher signal to noise ratios as well as higher fabrication yield compared to narrow wires. These advantages could potentially unlock some long sought after applications of single photon detectors such as large area detectors or >kilopixel arrays of detectors. In order to produce wide wire detectors the design and material properties must be well optimized. This thesis will cover the development of wide single photon detectors using nitrogen rich niobium nitride.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
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