Theory for the response of a superconducting kinetic inductance detector to an electromagnetic wave packet

Abstract

Abstract Voltage pulses generated by local heating due to the irradiation of an electromagnetic (EM) wave packet in a superconducting current-biased kinetic inductance detector are theoretically investigated on the basis of our previous theory [J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 1293, 012050]. The growth and decay of a hot spot created by an EM wave packet is described with the heat diffusion equation coupled with the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) equation. Variation in the kinetic inductance of the current-biased stripline in the detector induced by a hot spot is explicitly derived. We clarify the characteristic feature in the shape of the voltage pulses.