Fabrication of nanostructured superconducting single-photon detectors

Fabrication of NbN superconducting single-photon detectors, based on the hotspot effect is presented. The hotspot formation arises in an ultrathin and submicrometer-width superconductor stripe and, together with the supercurrent redistribution, leads to the resistive detector response upon absorption of a photon. The detector has a meander structure to maximally increase its active area and reach the highest detection efficiency. Main processing steps, leading to efficient devices, sensitive in 0.4-5 (mu)m wavelength range, are presented. The impact of various processing steps on the performance and operational parameters of our detectors is discussed.