A superconducting nanowire single photon detector (SNSPD) system for telecommunication wavelength using a GM cryocooler was developed and its performance was verified. The cryocooler based SNSPD system can operate continuously with a 100 V AC power supply without any cryogen. The packaged SNSPD device was cooled to 2.96 K within a thermal fluctuation range of 10 mK. An SNSPD with an area of 20 x 20 μm2 showed good system detection efficiency (DE) at 100 Hz dark count rate of 2.6% and 4.5% at wavelengths of 1550 and 1310 nm, respectively. An SNSPD with an area of 10 x 10 μm2 and kinetic inductance lower than that of the large area device showed good system DE of 2.6% at a wavelength of 1550 nm. The SNSPD system could be operated for over 10 h with constant system DE and dark count rate.
@article{arxiv.1003.0525,
title = {Development of SNSPD System with Gifford-McMahon Cryocooler},
author = {Shigehito Miki and Mikio Fujiwara and Masahide Sasaki and Zhen Wang},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1003.0525},
year = {2015}
}