Type-1.5 SNSPD: Interacting vortex theory of two bandgap superconducting single photon detectors

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bauer, Leif, He, Daien, Bharadwaj, Sathwik, Liu, Shunshun, Balachandran, Prasanna V., Jacob, Zubin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866916821036171264
author Bauer, Leif
He, Daien
Bharadwaj, Sathwik
Liu, Shunshun
Balachandran, Prasanna V.
Jacob, Zubin
author_facet Bauer, Leif
He, Daien
Bharadwaj, Sathwik
Liu, Shunshun
Balachandran, Prasanna V.
Jacob, Zubin
contents Photon detectors based on type-2 superconductors have found widespread applications from on-chip quantum computing to quantum remote sensing. Here, we develop the theory for a new class of type-1.5 superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) based on two bandgap superconductors with high transition temperatures such as MgB2 (Tc ~38.6K). We show that vortex-vortex interactions in two component condensates lead to a unique operating regime where single photons can seed multiple vortices within a hotspot. We also show that dark counts are suppressed in the type-1.5 regime compared to the widely studied type-2 SNSPDs. Our work opens the door for exploring the unique vortex physics of two-gap superconductors for quantum device applications.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_01240
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Type-1.5 SNSPD: Interacting vortex theory of two bandgap superconducting single photon detectors
Bauer, Leif
He, Daien
Bharadwaj, Sathwik
Liu, Shunshun
Balachandran, Prasanna V.
Jacob, Zubin
Superconductivity
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Instrumentation and Detectors
Photon detectors based on type-2 superconductors have found widespread applications from on-chip quantum computing to quantum remote sensing. Here, we develop the theory for a new class of type-1.5 superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs) based on two bandgap superconductors with high transition temperatures such as MgB2 (Tc ~38.6K). We show that vortex-vortex interactions in two component condensates lead to a unique operating regime where single photons can seed multiple vortices within a hotspot. We also show that dark counts are suppressed in the type-1.5 regime compared to the widely studied type-2 SNSPDs. Our work opens the door for exploring the unique vortex physics of two-gap superconductors for quantum device applications.
title Type-1.5 SNSPD: Interacting vortex theory of two bandgap superconducting single photon detectors
topic Superconductivity
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Instrumentation and Detectors
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.01240