  We investigate the growth conditions for thin (less than 200 nm) sputtered
aluminum (Al) films. These coatings are needed for various applications, e.g.
for advanced manufacturing processes in the aerospace industry or for
nanostructures for quantum devices. Obtaining high-quality films, with low
roughness, requires precise optimization of the deposition process. To this
end, we tune various sputtering parameters such as the deposition rate,
temperature, and power, which enables 50 nm thin films with a root mean square
(RMS) roughness of less than 1 nm and high reflectivity. Finally, we confirm
the high quality of the deposited films by realizing superconducting
single-photon detectors integrated into multi-layer heterostructures consisting
of an aluminum mirror and a silicon dioxide dielectric spacer. We achieve an
improvement in detection efficiency at 780 nm from 40 % to 70 % by this
integration approach.
