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Efficient detection of midinfrared photons by phonon trapping in superconducting nanowires

Qi Chen1,*, Liang Ma1,*, Hao Wang1,2,†, Huipeng Xia1, Wenlei Yin1, Yanqiu Guan1, Lin Kang1,2,3, Labao Zhang1,2,3,‡, and Peiheng Wu1,2,3

  • 1Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
  • 2Hefei National Laboratory, Hefei 230088, China
  • 3Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Contact author: wanghao91@nju.edu.cn
  • ‡Contact author: lzhang@nju.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. B 113, 134503 – Published 1 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ng78-19kg

Abstract

Phonons not only serve as the fundamental medium underlying superconductivity but also play a critical role in tuning the performance of superconducting nanowires. Here, we present an efficient approach for detecting midinfrared single photons by leveraging enhanced phonon trapping in superconducting nanowires, which arises from intrinsic acoustic mismatch. In the experiment, the nanowires are patterned on nitrogen-doped amorphous tungsten films, which consist of disordered heavy atoms and weakly doped light atoms. This unique structural composition enables the films to exhibit a phonon group velocity that is significantly lower than that of the silicon substrate. The current-voltage characteristics reveal an ultrahigh ratio of the superconducting switching current to retrapping current (∼22), which is more than three times higher than that of conventional niobium nitride nanowires. We attribute the increased ratio to phonon trapping facilitated by strong intrinsic acoustic mismatch. Furthermore, the fabricated detector achieves saturated internal detection efficiencies across a wavelength range 1.75–6 µm. This work provides a facile strategy for improving the sensitivity of midinfrared single-photon detectors through in situ phonon engineering.

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van der Waals integration of superconducting nanostructures for anisotropized thermal relaxation

Wenlei Yin, Liang Ma, Qi Chen, Hao Wang, Mengfan Zhang, Yanqiu Guan, Huipeng Xia, Zhuolin Yang, Yue Fei, Xinyue Fu, Fei Zhou, Rui Yin, Lin Kang, Labao Zhang, and Peiheng Wu
Phys. Rev. B 113, 134504 (2026)

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Phys. Rev. B 113, 134503– Published 1 April, 2026
  • Received 28 October 2025
  • Revised 27 January 2026
  • Accepted 9 March 2026
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