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arXiv · 2604.18155

Enhanced Mid-Infrared Single-Photon Detection with Antenna-Coupled Superconducting Nanowires

Dip Joti Paul·Stewart Koppell·Gregor G. Taylor·Boris Korzh·Sahil R. Patel·Andrew D. Beyer·Emma E. Wollman·Matthew D. Shaw·Phillip D. Keathley·Karl K. Berggren
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Abstract

Scaling the photon-detection area of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) has traditionally been achieved by nanowire meandering. However, material inhomogeneities and fabrication-induced defects, such as line-edge roughness, increase with nanowire length, leading to reduced internal photon-detection efficiency and elevated dark-count rates. This trade-off becomes increasingly pronounced as nanowires are scaled to sub-100 nm widths and sub-5 nm thicknesses required for mid- to far-infrared sensitivity. Here, we demonstrate an antenna-coupled SNSPD architecture that enhances the effective photon-detection area without increasing nanowire length. A crossed bowtie antenna integrated with an 80 nm-wide, 3 nm-thick WSi nanowire yields 15.7$\times$ increase in effective detection area at 7.4 $\mu$m compared to a bare nanowire of identical geometric footprint, while maintaining the same internal detection efficiency and dark-count rate. Antenna coupling provides a scalable approach to increasing photon-detection area while reducing the noise-equivalent power, offering performance benefits for applications in astronomy, biological imaging, and molecular spectroscopy.

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Dip Joti Paul, Stewart Koppell, Gregor G. Taylor, Boris Korzh, Sahil R. Patel, Andrew D. Beyer, Emma E. Wollman, Matthew D. Shaw, Phillip D. Keathley, Karl K. Berggren. 2026-04-20. Enhanced Mid-Infrared Single-Photon Detection with Antenna-Coupled Superconducting Nanowires. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.6c01917

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