Towards High-Efficiency Particle Detection Using Superconducting Microwire Arrays

Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors (SNSPDs) are a leading detector technology for single-photon detection with diverse applications, due to their ultra-low energy threshold of below 0.04 eV, low dark counts of 10^-5 Hz, and pico-second level time resolution. Recent advancement in the fabrication of large area superconducting microwire single photon detectors (SMSPDs) make them an ideal photo sensor to detect single photons in dark matter detection experiments and a potential innovative detector technology for future accelerator-based experiments.

In this talk, we present a detailed study of an 8-channel 1x1 mm^2 WSi superconducting microwire single photon detector (SMSPD) array exposed to 120 GeV hadron beam and 120 GeV muon beam at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron H6 beamline. Following up on our first detailed characterization of the efficiency and response of an SMSPD fabricated on a 3 nm WSi film, we report measurements of enhanced particle detection efficiency using a sensor fabricated from a thicker 4.7 nm-thick WSi film. We also report the first SMSPD detection efficiency measurement made for muons. Measurements are enabled by a silicon tracking telescope providing 10 micron in-situ spatial resolution. The results show a fill factor-normalized detection efficiency of 75 % and a time resolution of about 130 ps across pixels.

These findings represent a significant advancement toward developing high-efficiency SMSPD charged particle tracking systems with simultaneous precision timing, with potential applications in future accelerator-based experiments such as the FCC-ee and Muon Collider.