Semiempirical Modeling of Dark Count Rate and Quantum Efficiency of Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors

We present our semiempirical approach for modeling dark count rate (DCR) and quantum efficiency (QE) of current biased superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs). Using the qualitative outcomes of the present SNSPD models, we define new quantitative parameters including hotspot lifetime, resistive barrier generation rates and detector dead time to mathematically integrate different physical phenomena of the device into a unified model. The capability of the model to predict the outcomes of the measurements is demonstrated by reporting the details of the supporting experiments and showing a good agreement between simulation and experimental results.