GHz Superconducting Single-Photon Detectors for Dark Matter Search

Abstract

The composition of dark matter is one of the puzzling topics in astrophysics. To address this issue, several experiments searching for the existence of axions have been designed, built and realized in the last twenty years. Among all the others, light shining through walls experiments promise to push the exclusion limits to lower energies. For this reason, effort is put for the development of single-photon detectors operating at frequencies <100 GHz. Here, we review recent advancements in superconducting single-photon detection. In particular, we present two sensors based on one-dimensional Josephson junctions with the capability to be in situ tuned by simple current bias: the nanoscale transition edge sensor (nano-TES) and the Josephson escape sensor (JES). These two sensors are the ideal candidates for the realization of microwave light shining through walls (LSW) experiments, since they show unprecedented frequency resolutions of about 100 GHz and 2 GHz for the nano-TES and JES, respectively.