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Klapwijk, T. M., & Semenov, A. V. (2017). Engineering physics of superconducting hot-electron bolometer mixers. IEEE Trans. THz Sci. Technol., 7(6), 627–648.
Abstract: Superconducting hot-electron bolometers are presently the best performing mixing devices for the frequency range beyond 1.2 THz, where good-quality superconductor-insulator-superconductor devices do not exist. Their physical appearance is very simple: an antenna consisting of a normal metal, sometimes a normal-metal-superconductor bilayer, connected to a thin film of a narrow short superconductor with a high resistivity in the normal state. The device is brought into an optimal operating regime by applying a dc current and a certain amount of local-oscillator power. Despite this technological simplicity, its operation has found to be controlled by many different aspects of superconductivity, all occurring simultaneously. A core ingredient is the understanding that there are two sources of resistance in a superconductor: a charge-conversion resistance occurring at a normal-metal-superconductor interface and a resistance due to time-dependent changes of the superconducting phase. The latter is responsible for the actual mixing process in a nonuniform superconducting environment set up by the bias conditions and the geometry. The present understanding indicates that further improvement needs to be found in the use of other materials with a faster energy relaxation rate. Meanwhile, several empirical parameters have become physically meaningful indicators of the devices, which will facilitate the technological developments.
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Titova, N., Kardakova, A., Tovpeko, N., Ryabchun, S., Mandal, S., Morozov, D., et al. (2017). Superconducting diamond films as perspective material for direct THz detectors. In Proc. 28th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (82).
Abstract: Superconducting films with a high resistivity in the normal state have established themselves as the best materials for direct THz radiation sensors, such as kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) [1] and hot electron bolometers (nano-HEBs) [2]. The primary characteristics of the future instrument such as the sensitivity and the response time are determined by the material parameters such as the electron-phonon (e-ph) interaction time, the electron density and the resistivity of the material. For direct detectors, such as KIDs and nano-HEBs, to provide a high sensitivity and low noise one prefer materials with long e-ph relaxation times and low values of the electron density. As a potential material for THz radiation detection we have studied superconducting diamond films. A significant interest to diamond for the development of electronic devices is due to the evolution of its properties with the boron dopant concentration. At a high boron doping concentration, n B ~5·10 20 cm -3 , diamond has been reported to become a superconducting with T c depending on the doping level. Our previous study of energy relaxation in single-crystalline boron-doped diamond films epitaxially grown on a diamond shows a remarkably slow energy-relaxation at low temperatures. The electron-phonon cooling time varies from 400 ns to 700 ns over the temperature range 2.2 K to 1.7 K [3]. In superconducting materials such as Al and TiN, traditionally used in KIDs, the e-ph cooling times at 1.7 K correspond to ~20 ns [4] and ~100 ns [5], correspondingly. Such a noticeable slow e-ph relaxation in boron-doped diamond, in combination with a low value of carrier density (~10 21 cm -3 ) in comparison with typical metals (~10 23 cm -3 ) and a high normal state resistivity (~1500 μΩ·cm) confirms a potential of superconducting diamond for superconducting bolometers and resonator detectors. However, the price and the small substrate growth are of single crystal diamond limit practical applications of homoepitaxial diamond films. As an alternative way with more convenient technology, one can employ heteroepitaxial diamond films grown on large-size Si substrates. Here we report about measurements of e-ph cooling times in superconducting diamond grown on silicon substrate and discuss our expectations about the applicability of boron-doped diamond films to superconducting detectors. Our estimation of limit value of noise-equivalent power (NEP) and the energy resolution of bolometer made from superconducting diamond is order 10 -17 W/Hz 1/2 at 2 K and the energy resolution is of 0.1 eV that corresponds to counting single-photon up to 15 um. The estimation was obtained by using the film thickness of 70 nm and ρ ~ 1500 μΩ·cm, and the planar dimensions that are chosen to couple bolometer with 75 Ω log-spiral antenna. Although the value of NEP is far yet from what might like to have for certain astronomical applications, we believe that it can be improved by a suitable fabrication process. Also the direct detectors, based on superconducting diamond, will offer low noise performance at about 2 K, a temperature provided by inexpensive close-cycle refrigerators, which provides another practical advantage of development and application of these devices. [1] P.K. Day, et. al, Nature, 425, 817, 2003. [2] J. Wei, et al, Nature Nanotech., 3, 496, 2008. [3] A. Kardakova, et al, Phys. Rev. B, 93, 064506, 2016. [4] P. Santhanam and D. Prober, Phys. Rev. B, 29, 3733, 1984 [5] A. Kardakova, et al, Appl. Phys. Lett, vol. 103, p. 252602, 2013.
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Xu, Y., Zheng, X., Williams, C., Verevkin, A., Sobolewski, R., Chulkova, G., et al. (2001). Ultrafast superconducting hot-electron single-photon detector. In CLEO (345).
Abstract: Summary form only given. The current most-pressing need is to develop a practical, GHz-range counting single-photon detector, operational at either 1.3-/spl mu/m or 1.55-/spl mu/m radiation wavelength, for novel quantum communication and quantum cryptography systems. The presented solution of the problem is to use an ultrafast hot-electron photodetector, based on superconducting thin-film microstructures. This type of device is very promising, due to the macroscopic quantum nature of superconductors. Very fast response time and the small, (meV range) value of the superconducting energy gap characterize the superconductor, leading to the efficient avalanche process even for infrared photons.
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Antipov, A. V., Seleznev, V. A., Vakhtomin, Y. B., Morozov, P. V., Vasilev, D. D., Malevannaya, E. I., et al. (2020). Investigation of WSi and NbN superconducting single-photon detectors in mid-IR range. In IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. (Vol. 781, 012011 (1 to 5)).
Abstract: Spectral characteristics of WSi and NbN superconducting single-photon detectors with different surface resistance and width of nanowire strips have been investigated in the wavelength range of 1.3-2.5 μm. WSi structures with narrower strips demonstrated better performance for detection of single photons in longer wavelength range. The difference in normalized photon count rate for such structures reaches one order of magnitude higher in comparison with structures based on NbN thin films at 2.5 μm.
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Okunev, O., Chulkova, G., Milostnaya, I., Antipov, A., Smirnov, K., Morozov, D., et al. (2008). Registration of infrared single photons by a two-channel receiver based on fiber-coupled superconducting single-photon detectors. In I. A. Sukhoivanov, V. A. Svich, & Y. S. Shmaliy (Eds.), Proc. SPIE (Vol. 7009, 70090V (1 to 8)). SPIE.
Abstract: Single-photon detectors (SPDs) are the foundation of all quantum communications (QC) protocols. Among different classes of SPDs currently studied, NbN superconducting SPDs (SSPDs) are established as the best devices for ultrafast counting of single photons in the infrared (IR) wavelength range. The SSPDs are nanostructured, 100 μm2 in total area, superconducting meanders, patterned by electron lithography in ultra-thin NbN films. Their operation has been explained within a phenomenological hot-electron photoresponse model. We present the design and performance of a novel, two-channel SPD receiver, based on two fiber-coupled NbN SSPDs. The receivers have been developed for fiber-based QC systems, operational at 1.3 μm and 1.55 μm telecommunication wavelengths. They operate in the temperature range from 4.2 K to 2 K, in which the NbN SSPDs exhibit their best performance. The receiver unit has been designed as a cryostat insert, placed inside a standard liquid-heliumstorage dewar. The input of the receiver consists of a pair of single-mode optical fibers, equipped with the standard FC connectors and kept at room temperature. Coupling between the SSPD and the fiber is achieved using a specially designed, precise micromechanical holder that places the fiber directly on top of the SSPD nanostructure. Our receivers achieve the quantum efficiency of up to 7% for near-IR photons, with the coupling efficiency of about 30%. The response time was measured to be < 1.5 ns and it was limited by our read-out electronics. The jitter of fiber-coupled SSPDs is < 35 ps and their dark-count rate is below 1s-1. The presented performance parameters show that our single-photon receivers are fully applicable for quantum correlation-type QC systems, including practical quantum cryptography.
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