Norway is just starting to enter the research market for quantum technology, and has long experience in research on other materials systems. As part of this direction, SINTEF has allotted 14 million kroner to an internal project on developing and improving SNSPDs. SNSPDSs are commercially available today, but must be kept at temperatures just a couple of degrees above -273 °C, the lowest existing temperture. Our ambition is to increase the operating temperature, to make use of these components more affordable (cooling equipment required for very low temperatures is very expensive) so that they can find broader use.
The project will utilize resources from UiO, Justervesenet, University of Warwick, University of Augsburg, King's College London and national and international research infrastructure (NORTEM, NORFAB (at UiO and USN), ECCSEL og Sigma2), in addition to SINTEF Digital.
SNSPDs are made of superconductors which are subsequently patterned into a meander pattern with nanometer sizes. We will utilize advanced deposition techniques to make superconductors and etch meander patterns. Various microscopes and spectroscopes (TEM,SEM,AFM,XPS) and quantum-mechanical computations will be used to study the materials. Thereafter, their electrical properties and ability to absorb single photons will be thoroughly characterized utilizing our own fault-finding protocols for quantum components. As much characterization as possible will be performed at temperatures close to absolute zero (-273 °C).