Method, system and apparatus for measuring rest time of superconducting nanowire

Abstract

A device, system and method for measuring the temperature at the center of a normal hotspot and the heat escape time in superconducting filament or nanowire toward the substrate. The device includes structured layers; a superconducting filament is implemented as an active layer where an electrical current pulse or single photon radiation generates a hot spot; a sensitive semiconductor layer of germanium serves as a temperature sensor (thermometer); and a thin layer of insulating silicon oxide is intercalated between the superconducting layer and the germanium having a thickness in the range of 2-10 nm and width 5-100 μm. This device provides a direct measurement of the temperature at the center of a hot spot and determination of the heat escape time toward a substrate; and can be used to determine the sensitivity of a superconducting single photon detector device to a next upcoming photon.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.