We have collected and analyzed the values of thermoelectric parameters of thermoelectric materials and on this basis calculated the energy resolution and photon count rate of the Thermoelectric Nanowire Single-Photon Detector (TNSPD). It is concluded that the TNSPD can achieve higher specifications as compared with the best single-photon detectors. The lanthanum-cerium hexaboride sensors of TNSPD are expected to reach more than gigahertz count rates and will have a sensitivity of 0.1 eV. It means that the device is sensitive enough to register and spectrally characterize not only X-ray and UV, but also optical and infrared photons, as its major competitors, the superconducting and semiconducting single-photon detectors.

Date Published: 6 May 2013
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 8773, Photon Counting Applications IV; and Quantum Optics and Quantum Information Transfer and Processing, 87730L (6 May 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2016987

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8773:
Photon Counting Applications IV; and Quantum Optics and Quantum Information Transfer and Processing
Jaromír Fiurásek; Ivan Prochazka; Roman Sobolewski, Editor(s)