Efficient low-energy single-electron detection using a large-area superconducting microstrip

Abstract

Superconducting strip single-photon detectors (SSPDs) are excellent tools not only for single-photon detection but also for single-particle detection owing to their high detection efficiency, low dark counts, and low time jitter. Although the detection of various particles, including electrons with keV-scale energy, has been reported so far, there have been no studies for detecting low-energy electrons. It has yet to be clarified how low-energy electrons interact with electrons and/or phonons in a superconductor during electron detection. Here we report the detection property of a superconducting micro-strip single-electron detector (SSED) for electrons with energy below 200 eV. The detection efficiency is estimated as at least 37 % when electrons impinging on the stripline possess an energy of 200 eV. We also show that the minimum detectable energy of electrons is about 10 eV with our SSED, much lower than those of ions, which implies that the electron-electron interaction plays a significant role. SSEDs might open a wide range of applications, from condensed matter physics to quantum information science, because of their compatibility with the cryogenic environment.