Modelling the Performance of Single-Photon Counting Kinetic Inductance Detectors

We present the first published results of near-infrared single-photon detection in aluminium lumped element kinetic inductance detectors (LEKIDs). Using aluminium as a well-understood material that follows conventional superconductor theory, we discuss and validate a model that describes the energy-resolving performance of a LEKID to single-photon absorption events. We also discuss data analysis techniques used to extract single-photon detections from noisy data. We measure an energy resolution of 662 meV for a 1550 nm photon source which is in close agreement to our model predictions for this non-optimised device limited by generation–recombination noise.