To facilitate high optical coupling efficiency and absorptance, the active area of a superconducting nano/microstrip single-photon detector (SNSPD/SMSPD) is often designed as a meander configuration with a high filling factor (e.g. ⩾0.5). However, the switching current (I _sw) of SNSPD/SMSPD, at which the detector switches into the normal state, is significantly suppressed by a geometry-induced ‘current crowding effect’, where there are sharp bends in the strip. Here, we propose and experimentally verify an alternative method to reduce current crowding both in SNSPD and SMSPD by directly increasing the thickness of the bends through the deposition and lift-off of a secondary superconducting film. We measure and compare the performance of SNSPDs and SMSPDs with different filling factors and bend configurations, with or without thickened bends. Improvements for detectors were observed in detection efficiency, intrinsic dark count rate, and time jitter, owing to the enhanced I _sw. Our method provides a promising way of optimizing SNSPD/SMSPD detection performance.

中文翻译：

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通过加厚弯曲减少曲折超导条带单光子探测器中的电流拥挤

为了促进高光耦合效率和吸收率，超导纳米/微带单光子探测器（SNSPD/SMSPD）的有源区域通常设计为具有高填充因子（例如0.5）的曲折配置。然而，开关电流（我 _{SNSPD/SMSPD 的sw} )，此时检测器切换到正常状态，受到几何引起的“电流拥挤效应”的显着抑制，其中条带中存在急剧弯曲。在这里，我们提出并通过实验验证了一种替代方法，通过二次超导薄膜的沉积和剥离直接增加弯曲的厚度，从而减少 SNSPD 和 SMSPD 中的电流拥挤。我们测量并比较了具有不同填充因子和弯曲配置（有或没有加厚弯曲）的 SNSPD 和 SMSPD 的性能。在检测效率、本征暗计数率和时间抖动方面观察到检测器的改进，这是由于增强的我 _SW。我们的方法提供了一种优化 SNSPD/SMSPD 检测性能的有前途的方法。