Photoresponse mechanism of superconducting MgB₂

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rochester. Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, 2008.The recent discovery of superconductivity in MgB2, with its BCS-like Cooper pairing mechanism and the 40-K critical temperature, and the demonstration of efficient single-optical-photon detection in superconducting NbN nanowire meanders inspired an interest in the development of superconducting radiation detectors based on MgB2. We report the results of our experimental and theoretical studies of a photoresponse mechanism in superconducting MgB2 thin films and microbridges. We demonstrate that despite the two-gap nature of this material, the nonequilibrium superconducting recovery dynamics in MgB2 is similar to conventional one-gap, both low- and high-temperature superconductors and is governed by quasiparticle recombination, limited by the phonon bottleneck mechanism. Our measured 100-ps-wide responses in MgB2 superconducting microbridges, operated at temperatures above 20 K, make this material promising for superconducting photodetector applications