Prospects of using rare-earth hexaborides in thermoelectric single-photon detectors

Abstract

The results of the numerical simulation of heat propagation processes occurring after the absorption of single photons with energies of 1 eV–1 keV in a three-layer sensor of a thermoelectric detector are analyzed. Different configurations of the sensor with a tungsten absorber, a thermoelectric layer of cerium hexaboride, and a tungsten heat sink are considered. It is shown that sensors for detecting photons of a specific spectral range with the required energy resolution and counting rate can be developed by varying the geometric sizes of the sensor layers. It is concluded that a three-layer sensor has a number of advantages in comparison with a single-layer sensor and has characteristics allowing consideration of the thermoelectric detector as a realistic alternative to superconducting single-photon detectors.