Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors fabricated from atomic-layer-deposited NbN

TL;DR

This paper reports the development of high-quality ultra-thin NbN films via plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition, enabling superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors with high efficiency, low noise, and excellent uniformity for telecommunication applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel fabrication method for NbN films using PEALD, resulting in improved device performance and uniformity in SNSPDs compared to traditional methods.

Findings

High switching currents and saturated efficiencies at 1550 nm

Near-unity yield due to film homogeneity

Suitable for large detector arrays with high performance

Abstract

High-quality ultra-thin films of niobium nitride (NbN) are developed by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) technique. Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) patterned from this material exhibit high switching currents and saturated internal efficiencies over a broad bias range at 1550 nm telecommunication wavelength. Statistical analyses on hundreds of fabricated devices show near-unity throughput yield due to exceptional homogeneity of the films. The ALD-NbN material represents an ideal superconducting material for fabricating large single-photon detector arrays combining high efficiency, low jitter, low dark counts.