Researchers at NIST have developed a more efficient ultrafast single-photon detector using a tungsten-silicon alloy instead of niobium nitride. The new detector has a detection efficiency of 19-40%, compared to less than 10% for the original design. This improvement could make ultrafast detectors more practical for quantum communications, computing, and experiments testing quantum mechanics. The tungsten-silicon alloy provides higher energy sensitivity and a more uniform structure, allowing for larger detector dimensions. Future work may focus on embedding detectors in optical cavities to further improve efficiency and enable applications like linear optical quantum computing.
Keywords: Single-photon, Superconducting, Nanowire
