Multimode, Fiber-Coupled, Tungsten Silicide, Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detector Array

The superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) arrays created in this innovation were fabricated using a WSi nanowire process. A gold mirror layer is deposited on an oxidized silicon wafer, and amorphous-state WSi is sputtered from a compound target at a thickness of 5 nm. The WSi nanowire is embedded at the center of a three-layer vertical optical cavity consisting of two silica layers and a titanium oxide anti-reflective coating. The layer thicknesses were chosen, on the basis of simulations and measured material parameters, to optimize efficiency at the target communication wavelength of 1,550 nm, and to minimize the polarization dependence of the detector response.