Different materials are used for superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPD). In our group we use NbTiN but other competitive materials are used. The biggest difference is amorphous (e.g. MoSi) or crystalline materials (e.g. NbN).
Niobium Titanium Nitride (NbTiN) is the material used in the SNSPDs produced in our group. The material is used for structures with efficiencies exceeding $92\%$, detection rates of $150 \mathrm{MHz}$, dark-count below $130 \mathrm{Hz}$ and a timing jitter of $14.8 \mathrm{ps}$ at an efficiency of $75\%$. \cite{Zadeh2016b}
The lattice of NbTiN is a NaCL structure and has to match the underlying structure. Heating the substrates improves the deposition \cite{Yu2015}.
Journal papers on the material are summarized here.