Four-Layer Detection Pixel of Single-Photon Thermoelectric Detector

Abstract

The processes of heat propagation in a four-layer detection pixel of thermoelectric single-photon detector after the absorption of photon of the 0.8 eV energy are investigated by the computer simulation method. The design of the detection pixel consisting of successive layers on a sapphire substrate of heat sink (W), thermoelectric sensor (CeB₆), absorber (W) and the antireflection layer (LaB₆) is proposed. The temporal dependences of an intensity of the signal arising on the detection pixel, the values and the time to reach the maximum signal, the time of signal decreasing to the background value and the count rate of the detector for different thicknesses of the layers of the sensing element are determined. The computer modelling is carried out based on the equation of heat propagation from the limited volume by the use of three-dimensional matrix method for differential equations. It is shown that the thermoelectric detector with the four-layer detection pixel has a system detection efficiency on the level of 95%. It also provides a gigahertz count rate. A detector with such characteristics can be applied in various fields of science and modern technologies.