We use semiclassical formalism to optimize a microwave single photon detector based on switching events of a current biased Josephson junction coupled to a resonator. In order to detect very rare events, the average time between dark counts τdark should be maximized taking into account that the switching time τsw should be sufficiently small. We demonstrate that these times can be tuned in the wide range by changing the junction parameters, and the ratios τdark/τsw∼109 can be achieved. Therefore, a junction-resonator arrangement can be used for detecting extremely low photon fluxes, for instance for searching galactic axions.
@article{arxiv.2107.08113,
title = {Single-photon detection with a Josephson junction coupled to a resonator},
author = {Dmitry S. Golubev and Evgeni V. Ilichev and Leonid S. Kuzmin},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2107.08113},
year = {2021}
}