Performance limits due to thermal transport in graphene single-photon bolometers

TL;DR

This paper models the thermal transport limits in graphene-based single-photon bolometers, analyzing how electronic thermal diffusion and electron-phonon interactions affect detector performance and proposing design strategies for improved sensitivity and timing.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive model of thermal transport in graphene bolometers across different scattering regimes, guiding the design of efficient, superconducting-readout single-photon detectors.

Findings

Feasibility of superconducting readout without Cooper-pair breaking.

Predicted intrinsic timing jitter of ~2.7 ps.

Design guidelines for graphene absorbers in calorimetric detectors.

Abstract

In high-sensitivity bolometers and calorimeters, the photon absorption often occurs at a finite distance from the temperature sensor to accommodate antennas or avoid the degradation of superconducting circuitry exposed to radiation. As a result, thermal propagation from the input to the temperature readout can critically affect detector performance. In this report we model the performance of a graphene bolometer, accounting for electronic thermal diffusion and dissipation via electron-phonon coupling at low temperatures in three regimes: clean, supercollision, and resonant scattering. Our results affirm the feasibility of a superconducting readout without Cooper-pair breaking by mid- and near-infrared photons, and provide a recipe for designing graphene absorbers for calorimetric single-photon detectors. We investigate the tradeoff between the input-readout distance and detector efficiency, and predict an intrinsic timing jitter of ~2.7 ps. Based on our result, we propose a spatial-mode-resolving photon detector to increase communication bandwidth.