Mainz 2026 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 29: Poster – Quantum Technologies I
Q 29.18: Poster
Tuesday, March 3, 2026, 17:00–19:00, Philo 2. OG
Electrical modelling of superconducting nanowire single photon detectors and challenges for detecting single photons — •Thushara Suraweera Arachchilage1, Philipp Karl1, Sandra Mennle1, Michael Zimmer2, and Harald Giessen1 — 14th Physics Institute, Research Center SCoPE, and IQST, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany — 2IHFG, University of Stuttgart, Allmandring 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
Applications of superconducting devices have become a rapidly evolving research field, and superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) play a key role in this area. Although some studies have reported improved signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), reproducing these published results has proven difficult. Analyzing these detectors using equivalent electrical-circuit models lead to improvements, and could be deployed for single-photon detection with high accuracy.
This study primarily focuses on the electrical behavior of SNSPDs. As an initial step, contact resistances were investigated, since these contribute significantly to the total impedance of a detector. The obtained contact resistances ranged from tens of ohms to a few hundred ohms, which can pose a major problem for impedance matching with measurement instruments when detecting faint signals.
These observations also highlight the need to study additional variables, such as substrate selection, contact-pad materials, and their oxidation properties, that may influence the SNR of SNSPDs. Identifying these critical problems is the first step toward solving them, and thus enables an improvement in existing SNSPDs.
Keywords: SNSPDs; Improvement of signal-to-noise ratios; Contact resistance