We demonstrate experimentally that single photon detection can be achieved in micron-wide NbN bridges, with widths ranging from 0.53 μm to 5.15 μm and for photon-wavelengths from 408 nm to 1550 nm. The microbridges are biased with a dc current close to the experimental critical current, which is estimated to be about 50 % of the theoretically expected depairing current. These results offer an alternative to the standard superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs), based on nanometer scale nanowires implemented in a long meandering structure. The results are consistent with improved theoretical modelling based on the theory of non-equilibrium superconductivity including the vortex-assisted mechanism of initial dissipation.
@article{arxiv.1802.02881,
title = {Optical single photon detection in micron-scaled NbN bridges},
author = {Y. Korneeva and D. Yu. Vodolazov and A. V. Semenov and I. Florya and N. Simonov and E. Baeva and A. A. Korneev and G. N. Goltsman and T. M. Klapwijk},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1802.02881},
year = {2018}
}