Intrinsic quantum efficiency and electro-thermal model of a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector
Superconducting single-photon detectors from thin niobium nitride nanostrips exhibit a cut-off of the wavelength-independent quantum efficiency along with a moderate energy resolution in the near-infrared spectral range. Before the cut-off, the intrinsic quantum efficiency of the detector reaches ≈3...
Saved in:
Published in | Journal of modern optics Vol. 56; no. 2-3; pp. 345 - 351 |
---|---|
Main Authors | , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article Conference Proceeding |
Language | English |
Published |
Abingdon
Taylor & Francis Group
20.01.2009
Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Ltd |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
Cover
Loading…
Summary: | Superconducting single-photon detectors from thin niobium nitride nanostrips exhibit a cut-off of the wavelength-independent quantum efficiency along with a moderate energy resolution in the near-infrared spectral range. Before the cut-off, the intrinsic quantum efficiency of the detector reaches ≈30% of the ultimate value, which is physically limited to the absorbance of the detector structure. The intrinsic quantum efficiency is most likely controlled by non-homogeneities of the niobium nitride films. We have developed an electro-thermal model of the detector response that allowed us to optimize the SQUID-based readout and to achieve, in the temperature range from 1 to 6 K, the photon count rate 3 × 10
7
s
−1
and a dark count rate less than 10
−4
s
−1
. |
---|---|
Bibliography: | SourceType-Scholarly Journals-2 ObjectType-Feature-2 ObjectType-Conference Paper-1 content type line 23 SourceType-Conference Papers & Proceedings-1 ObjectType-Article-3 |
ISSN: | 0950-0340 1362-3044 |
DOI: | 10.1080/09500340802578589 |