Improved energy resolution of a superconducting single-photon detector

A. D. Semenov; P. Haas; H.-W. Hübers; K. S. Ilin; M. Siegel; A. Kirste; T. Schurig; R. Herrmann

doi:10.1117/12.789351

22 July 2008 Improved energy resolution of a superconducting single-photon detector

A. D. Semenov, P. Haas, H.-W. Hübers, K. S. Ilin, M. Siegel, A. Kirste, T. Schurig, R. Herrmann

Proceedings Volume 7021, High Energy, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy III; 70211E (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.789351
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2008, Marseille, France

Abstract

We demonstrated successful operation of an NbN single photon detector in the temperature range from 6 K to 1.2 K using a ³He sorption refrigerator combined with a pulse-tube mechanical cooler. The detector was read out either by microwave amplifiers or by a broadband SQUID-amplifier that limited the maximum counting rate to 10⁷ counts per second. This counting rate was only one third of the maximum rate provided by the detector. Besides an increase in the quantum efficiency in the visible and near-infrared spectral range with the decrease of the operation temperature, we found a more than twofold improvement in the energy resolution as compared to earlier demonstrated 1 eV at 6.5 K. The noise equivalent power estimated at 4.2 K for visible light was better than 10^-18 W Hz^-1/2. We verified that the lowest achieved dark count rate was still caused by the harsh electrical conditions in the mechanical cooler.

Citation Download Citation

A. D. Semenov, P. Haas, H.-W. Hübers, K. S. Ilin, M. Siegel, A. Kirste, T. Schurig, and R. Herrmann "Improved energy resolution of a superconducting single-photon detector", Proc. SPIE 7021, High Energy, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy III, 70211E (22 July 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.789351

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