Vetter, A., Ferrari, S., Rath, P., Alaee, R., Kahl, O., Kovalyuk, V., et al. (2016). Cavity-enhanced and ultrafast superconducting single-photon detectors. Nano Lett., 16(11), 7085–7092.
Abstract: Ultrafast single-photon detectors with high efficiency are of utmost importance for many applications in the context of integrated quantum photonic circuits. Detectors based on superconductor nanowires attached to optical waveguides are particularly appealing for this purpose. However, their speed is limited because the required high absorption efficiency necessitates long nanowires deposited on top of the waveguide. This enhances the kinetic inductance and makes the detectors slow. Here, we solve this problem by aligning the nanowire, contrary to usual choice, perpendicular to the waveguide to realize devices with a length below 1 mum. By integrating the nanowire into a photonic crystal cavity, we recover high absorption efficiency, thus enhancing the detection efficiency by more than an order of magnitude. Our cavity enhanced superconducting nanowire detectors are fully embedded in silicon nanophotonic circuits and efficiently detect single photons at telecom wavelengths. The detectors possess subnanosecond decay ( approximately 120 ps) and recovery times ( approximately 510 ps) and thus show potential for GHz count rates at low timing jitter ( approximately 32 ps). The small absorption volume allows efficient threshold multiphoton detection.
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Matyushkin, Y., Danilov, S., Moskotin, M., Belosevich, V., Kaurova, N., Rybin, M., et al. (2020). Helicity-sensitive plasmonic terahertz interferometer. Nano Lett., 20(10), 7296–7303.
Abstract: Plasmonic interferometry is a rapidly growing area of research with a huge potential for applications in the terahertz frequency range. In this Letter, we explore a plasmonic interferometer based on graphene field effect transistor connected to specially designed antennas. As a key result, we observe helicity- and phase-sensitive conversion of circularly polarized radiation into dc photovoltage caused by the plasmon-interference mechanism: two plasma waves, excited at the source and drain part of the transistor, interfere inside the channel. The helicity-sensitive phase shift between these waves is achieved by using an asymmetric antenna configuration. The dc signal changes sign with inversion of the helicity. A suggested plasmonic interferometer is capable of measuring the phase difference between two arbitrary phase-shifted optical signals. The observed effect opens a wide avenue for phase-sensitive probing of plasma wave excitations in two-dimensional materials.
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Yang, Y., Fedorov, G., Shafranjuk, S. E., Klapwijk, T. M., Cooper, B. K., Lewis, R. M., et al. (2015). Electronic transport and possible superconductivity at Van Hove singularities in carbon nanotubes. Nano Lett., 15(12), 7859–7866.
Abstract: Van Hove singularities (VHSs) are a hallmark of reduced dimensionality, leading to a divergent density of states in one and two dimensions and predictions of new electronic properties when the Fermi energy is close to these divergences. In carbon nanotubes, VHSs mark the onset of new subbands. They are elusive in standard electronic transport characterization measurements because they do not typically appear as notable features and therefore their effect on the nanotube conductance is largely unexplored. Here we report conductance measurements of carbon nanotubes where VHSs are clearly revealed by interference patterns of the electronic wave functions, showing both a sharp increase of quantum capacitance, and a sharp reduction of energy level spacing, consistent with an upsurge of density of states. At VHSs, we also measure an anomalous increase of conductance below a temperature of about 30 K. We argue that this transport feature is consistent with the formation of Cooper pairs in the nanotube.
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Tretyakov, I., Svyatodukh, S., Perepelitsa, A., Ryabchun, S., Kaurova, N., Shurakov, A., et al. (2020). Ag2S QDs/Si heterostructure-based ultrasensitive SWIR range detector. Nanomaterials (Basel), 10(5), 1–12.
Abstract: In the 20(th) century, microelectronics was revolutionized by silicon-its semiconducting properties finally made it possible to reduce the size of electronic components to a few nanometers. The ability to control the semiconducting properties of Si on the nanometer scale promises a breakthrough in the development of Si-based technologies. In this paper, we present the results of our experimental studies of the photovoltaic effect in Ag2S QD/Si heterostructures in the short-wave infrared range. At room temperature, the Ag2S/Si heterostructures offer a noise-equivalent power of 1.1 x 10(-10) W/ radicalHz. The spectral analysis of the photoresponse of the Ag2S/Si heterostructures has made it possible to identify two main mechanisms behind it: the absorption of IR radiation by defects in the crystalline structure of the Ag2S QDs or by quantum QD-induced surface states in Si. This study has demonstrated an effective and low-cost way to create a sensitive room temperature SWIR photodetector which would be compatible with the Si complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology.
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Marksteiner, M., Divochiy, A., Sclafani, M., Haslinger, P., Ulbricht, H., Korneev, A., et al. (2009). A superconducting NbN detector for neutral nanoparticles. Nanotechnol., 20(45), 455501.
Abstract: We present a proof-of-principle study of superconducting single photon detectors (SSPD) for the detection of individual neutral molecules/nanoparticles at low energies. The new detector is applied to characterize a laser desorption source for biomolecules and allows retrieval of the arrival time distribution of a pulsed molecular beam containing the amino acid tryptophan, the polypeptide gramicidin as well as insulin, myoglobin and hemoglobin. We discuss the experimental evidence that the detector is actually sensitive to isolated neutral particles.
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