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Direct observation of photon-induced vortices in superconducting films

Takeshi Jodoi1,2, Fuminori Hirayama1, Tetsuya Tsuruta1, Takahiro Kikuchi1, and Daiji Fukuda1

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Phys. Rev. Applied 26, 034005 – Published 2 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/n295-rfl8

Abstract

Nucleation of vortex-antivortex pairs (VAPs) is believed to play a central role in the photon detection mechanism of superconducting detectors; however, their direct dynamic observation has remained challenging. Here, we report the direct observation of photon-induced VAP dynamics in a current-carrying superconductor as quantized voltage signals following photon absorption. The observed signals are interpreted as discrete phase-slip events, where each vortex traversal induces a 2π phase change of the superconducting order parameter, resulting in a quantized voltage pulse whose time integral is given by the magnetic flux quantum Φ0. We analyze the resulting quantized signals as a function of bias current, base temperature, and input photon-number states and find that the number of VAPs generated per absorbed photon becomes effectively stabilized under specific conditions. Under these conditions, we demonstrate photon-number-resolving capability by directly counting phase-slip-induced voltage quanta. Our results reveal a detection mechanism governed by phase dynamics rather than conventional resistive transitions and represent the first demonstration of photon-number resolution based on VAP counting, enabling fast multi-photon-resolving superconducting detectors for quantum optics.

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Phys. Rev. Applied 26, 034005– Published 2 September, 2026
  • Received 1 October 2025
  • Revised 28 June 2026
  • Accepted 16 July 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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