Towards the detection of single photons in the mid-infrared

Sammanfattning: In this project, the fabrication of single-photon detectors based on superconducting nanowires is presented, with great focus on extending their operation range to the mid infrared. In particular, Niobium Titanium Nitride (NbTiN) and Molybdenum Silicide (MoSi), superconducting materials with different properties, are presented, studied and used as fabrication platforms. Different approaches are followed, mainly adjusting the nanowire width and thickness to achieve near unity quantum efficiency at mid infrared wavelengths. With the vision of using these devices for atmospheric LIDAR and sensing experiments, saturation at 2050 nm is studied that corresponds to the absorption peak of CO2. For the best device made on NbTiN thin films, unity quantum efficiency is shown at 2050 nm with a time jitter of 116 ps at 1550 nm. Simulations using the transfer matrix method and the commercial software Lumerical are carried out, concluding that the devices made in NbTiN could have 23.1-26.7% system detection efficiency at 2050 nm on a Silicon SiO2/Si platform. Further improvements show that the detection efficiency could reach between 52-62% (for 0.33 and 0.5 fill factor, respectively calculated with FDTD simulations) by engineering optical cavities.