Ion irradiated YBa2Cu3O7 nano-meanders for superconducting single photon detectors

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the fabrication and characterization of YBa2Cu3O7 nano-meanders via ion irradiation, showing promising superconducting properties for use as single photon detectors, with inductance measurements aligning with theoretical expectations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel fabrication method for superconducting nano-meanders using high-energy ion irradiation, suitable for single photon detection applications.

Findings

Good superconducting properties of nano-meanders confirmed.

Inductance measurements match theoretical calculations.

Potential for use in superconducting single photon detectors.

Abstract

We report the fabrication of few hundred microns long, hundreds of nanometers wide and 30 nm thick meanders made from YBa2CU3O7. Thin films protected by a 8 nm-thick Ce02 cap layer have been patterned by high energy (a few tens of keV) oxygen ion irradiation through photoresist masks. DC and RF characterizations outline good superconducting properties of nano-meanders that could be used as Superconducting Single Photon Detectors (SSPD). By mean of a resonant method, their inductance, which mainly sets the maximum speed of these devices, has been measured on a wide range of temperature. It compares favorably with expected values calculated from the geometry of the meanders and the known London penetration depth in YBa2CU3O7.