Electrical characterization of superconducting single-photon detectors

Superconducting meanders of NbN thin films have applications as single-photon detectors with high sensitivity in the infrared region. We report here a detailed analysis of the electrical characteristics of such meanders, by studying structures where each wire of the meander is separately contacted. The effect of heating on the superconducting-normal transition of adjacent stripes is evidenced. Moreover, the analysis of the switching current distribution of each wire highlights the high-critical current uniformity achieved by our meander process. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.