Abstract:

Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) have long been the gold standard for single-photon counting at NIR wavelengths due to their high quantum efficiency, low dark count rate, low timing jitter and high maximum count rates. The minimum energy sensitivity is also theoretically able to extend deep into the mid-infrared. In this talk I will outline our efforts here at JPL to extend the working wavelength of these detectors to wavelengths in the 10 to 30 µm range. This spectral region is particularly attractive for applications in exoplanet spectroscopy and dark matter detection where there are currently very few, if any, alternative single-photon sensitive detector technologies available.

About the Speaker: Gregor completed his PhD and a following postdoc at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, where he studied superconducting nanowire detectors in the near and mid-infrared and their application to remote sensing applications. He then joined JPL as a postdoctoral researcher in January 2022. His efforts are mostly focused on extending sensitivity and optical coupling of these detectors to longer wavelengths and scaling up to arrays. His long-term goal is to produce a single-photon sensitive mid-infrared megapixel array for time-resolved photon counting. He will then retire and get a dog.

WebEx Meeting: https://jpl.webex.com/jpl/j.php?MTID=maf8d76c5ed9b0e79d9a7e83cc6f73d24
Meeting number (access code): 2763 926 1570
Meeting password: 4mPvmGjSZ42