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Prof. Robert H. Hadfield, Division of Electronic & Nanoscale Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

Infrared single-photon detection with superconducting nanowires

Time: Thu 2016-05-26 11.00 - 12.00

Location: FA31

Participating: Prof. Robert H. Hadfield

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Title: Infrared single-photon detection with superconducting nanowires

Abstract: Single photon detectors based on superconducting nanowires have emerged as a highly promising alternative for infrared single photon detection. These devices offer single photon sensitivity from visible to mid infrared wavelengths with high efficiency, low dark count rates and tens of picosecond timing precision (1).

I will discuss improvements to basic device design through integration with optical cavities, nanoantennas and waveguides. I will describe how these low temperature devices can be mounted in practical closed-cycle systems for deployment in applications, and give an outlook on important developments in miniaturized cooling. I will conclude with an overview of applications where these devices are being deployed, including optical quantum information processing, single photon remote sensing, and dosimetry for laser medicine.


[1] CM Natarajan, MG Tanner, RH Hadfield Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors: physics and applications Superconductor Science and Technology 25 063001 (2012).

Speaker biography

Professor Robert Hadfield has more than 15 years’ experience in superconducting detectors and electronics. He received his PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK in 2003. He worked as a postdoctoral guest researcher at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, CO from 2003-2006. He took up a Royal Society University Research Fellowship at Heriot-Watt University, Scotland in 2007.

He accepted a Personal Chair at the University of Glasgow in January 2013. He has won several awards in recognition of his work on superconducting detectors and cryogenics, including the 2012 J&E Hall Gold Medal of the Institute of Refrigeration, the 2013 Brian Pippard Prize of the Institute of Physics Superconductivity Group and a 2015 European Research Council Consolidator Grant.

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Last changed: May 24, 2016