title: Sensitivity of a superconducting nanowire detector for single ions at low energy.
abstract: We report on the characterization of a superconducting nanowire detector for ions at low kinetic energies. We measure the absolute single-particle detection efficiency η and trace its increase with energy up to η = 100%. We discuss the influence of noble gas adsorbates on the cryogenic surface and analyze their relevance for the detection of slow massive particles. We apply a recent model for the hot-spot formation to the incidence of atomic ions at energies between 0.2 and 1 keV. We suggest how the differences observed for photons and atoms or molecules can be related to the surface condition of the detector and we propose that the restoration of proper surface conditions may open a new avenue for SSPD-based optical spectroscopy on molecules and nanoparticles.
authors.affiliation: Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology, Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sclafani
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marksteiner
authors.forename: Fraser McLennan
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Keir
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Divochiy
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Korneev
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Semenov
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gol'tsman
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arndt
mesh_terms: D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004867:Equipment Design; D007477:Ions / Q000032:analysis*; D007700:Kinetics; D053770:Nanowires / Q000737:chemistry*; D013057:Spectrum Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation
chemical_list: D007477:Ions