Abstract: The study of the electron-phonon interaction in thin (20 nm) NbC films with electron mean free path l=2-13 nm gives an evidence that electron scattering is significantly modified due to the interference between electron-phonon and elastic electron scattering from impurities. The interference ~T^2-term, which is proportional to the residual resistivity, dominates over the Bloch-Grüneisen contribution to resistivity at low temperatures up to 60 K. The electron energy relaxation rate is directly measured via the relaxation of hot electrons heated by modulated electromagnetic radiation. In the temperature range 1.5 – 10 K the relaxation rate shows a weak dependence on the electron mean free path and strong temperature dependence T^n with the exponent n = 2.5-3. This behaviour is well explained by the theory of the electron-phonon-impurity interference taking into account the electron coupling with transverse phonons determined from the resistivity data.

Abstract: A study is reported of the current switching in high‐quality YBaCuO films deposited onto NdGaO3 and ZrO2 substrates between superconducting (S) and normal (N) states. The films 60–120 nm thick prepared by laser ablation were structured into single strips between gold contacts. The time dependence of the resistance after application of the voltage step to the film was monitored. Experiment performed within certain ranges of voltage amplitudes and temperatures has shown the occurrence of the fast stage (shorter than 400 ps) both in S‐N and N‐S transitions. A fraction of the film resistance changing within this stage in the S‐N transition increases with the current amplitude. A subnanosecond N‐S stage becomes more pronounced for shorter pulses. The fast switching is followed by the much slower change of resistance. The mechanism of switching is discussed in terms of the hot‐electron phenomena in YBaCuO. The contributions of other thermal processes (e.g., a phonon escape from the film, a heat diffusion in the film and substrate, a resistive domain formation) in the subsequent stage of the resistance dynamic have been also discussed. The basic limiting characteristics (average dissipated power, energy needed for switching, maximum repetition rate) of a picosecond switch which is proposed to be developed are estimated.

Abstract: Mixing of 1.56 µm infrared radiation from two lasers in a high quality YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ thin film, patterned to parallel strips, was demonstrated. A mixer bandwidth of 18 GHz, limited by the measurement system, was obtained. A model based on nonequilibrium electron heating gives a good fit to the data and predicts an intrinsic mixer bandwidth in excess of 100 GHz, operating in the whole infrared spectrum. Reduction of bolometric effects and ways to decrease the conversion loss of the mixer is discussed. The minimum conversion loss is expected to be ~10 dB.

Abstract: A new type of fast detector is proposed, whose operation is based on the variation of the kinetic inductance of a superconducting film caused by nonequilibrium quasiparticles created by the electromagnetic radiation. The speed of the detector is determined by the rate of multiplication of photo-excited quasiparticles, and is nearly independent of the temperature, being less than 1 ps for NbN. Models based on the Owen-Scalapino scheme give a good description of the experimentally determined dependence of the power-voltage sensitivity of the detector on the modulation frequency. The lifetime of the quasiparticles is determined, and it is shown that the reabsorption of nonequilibrium phonons by the condensate has a substantial effect even in ultrathin NbN films 5 nm thick, and results in the maximum possible quantum yield. A low concentration of equilibrium quasiparticles and a high quantum yield result in a detectivity D*=1012 W−1·Hz1/2 at a temperature T=4.2 K and D*=1016 W−1·cm· Hz1/2 at T=1.6 K.

Abstract: The authors have investigated the photoinduced voltage response of a current-carrying structured YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ thin film to ultrashort far-infrared (FIR) laser pulses in the frequency range from 0.7 THz to 7 THz. The detector has shown an almost constant sensitivity of 1 mV/W and a noise equivalent power of less than 5*10/sup -7/ W/ square root Hz. The temperature dependence of the decay time of the detector signal was studied for temperatures around the transition temperature of the film ( approximately 80 K). For a detector temperature where dR/dT had its maximum, the authors observed bolometric signals with decay times of about 2 ns, and for lower temperatures they observed nonbolometric signals with decay times of approximately 120 ps; the duration of the nonbolometric signals was limited by the time resolution of the electronic registration equipment.

Abstract: We report on a picosecond YBa2Cu3O7−δ detector for far‐infrared radiation. The detector, consisting of a current carrying structure cooled to liquid‐nitrogen temperature, was studied by use of ultrashort laser pulses from an optically pumped far‐infrared laser in the frequency range from 25 to 215 cm−1. We found that the sensitivity (1 mV/W) was almost constant in this frequency range. We estimated a noise equivalent power of less than 5×10−7 W Hz−1/2. Taking into account the results of a mixing experiment (in the frequency range from 4 to 30 cm−1) we suggest that the response time of the detector was few picoseconds.

Abstract: The temperature dependence of the resistance of films of Al, Be, and NbC with small values of the electron mean free path l=1.5–10nm has been measured at 4.2–300 K. The resistance of all the films contains a T2 contribution that is proportional to the residual resistance; this contribution has been attributed to the interference between the elastic electron scattering and the electron-phonon scattering. Fitting the data to the theory of the electron-phonon-impurity interference (M. Yu. Reiser and A. V. Sergeev, Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 92, 224 (1987) [Sov. Phys. JETP 65, 1291 (1987)]), we obtain constants of interaction of the electrons with transverse phonons, and estimate the contribution of this interaction to the electron dephasing rate in thin films of Au, Al, Be, Nb, and NbC. Our estimates are in a good agreement with the experimental data on the inelastic electron-phonon scattering in these films. This indicates that the interaction of electrons with transverse phonons controls the electron-phonon relaxation rate in thin-metal films over a broad temperature range.

Abstract: We present the measurements and the theoretical model on the frequency dependent noise temperature of a lattice cooled hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer in the terahertz frequency range. The experimentally observed increase of the noise temperature with frequency is a cumulative effect of the non-uniform distribution of the high frequency current in the bolometer and the charge imbalance, which occurs near the edges of the normal domain and contacts with normal metal. In addition, we present experimental results which show that the noise temperature of a HEB mixer can be reduced by about 30% due to a Parylene antireflection coating on the Silicon hyperhemispheric lens.

Abstract: The transient voltage photoresponse of current biased YBaCuO thin films to 20 ps laser pulses of 0.63 and 1.54 μm wavelengths is measured for temperatures around the superconducting transition region. The fast picosecond decay of the response is followed by a slow nanosecond relaxation which is associated with the bolometric effect. The magnitude of the fast component of the response varies in proportion to the square root of wavelength that plausibly reflects multiplication processes of photoexcited electrons via electron–electron scattering and interaction with high energy phonons.

Abstract: We report on the use of a superconducting hot‐electron bolometer mixer for heterodyne detection of terahertz radiation. Radiation with a wavelength of 119 μm was coupled to the mixer, a NbN microbridge, by a hybrid quasioptical antenna consisting of an extended hyperhemispherical lens and a planar logarithmic spiral antenna. We found, at an intermediate frequency of 1.5 GHz, a system double side band noise temperature of ≊40 000 K and conversion losses of 25 dB. We also discuss the possibilities of further improvement of the mixer performance.

Abstract: Direct measurements of the thermal boundary resistance were performed by means of the stationary method. In this approach the temperature of an electrically heated film is controlled by its dc resistance while an additional film on the same substrate is used as a thermometer monitoring substrate temperature. The temperature field in the substrate is then calculated to deduce the Kapitza temperature step at the interface between the heated strip and the substrate. The main statement of all afore-said papers is that experimental values of the thermal boundary resistance are too large to be explained by the acoustic mismatch model. In this paper we investigate transparency of YBaCuO film/substrate interfaces for thermal phonons by means of photoresponse measurements. We show that our data are in reasonable agreement with the acoustic mismatch theory.

Abstract: The transparency of a film/substrate interface for thermal phonons was investigated for YBa2Cu3O7 thin films deposited on MgO, Al2O3, LaAlO3, NdGaO3, and ZrO2 substrates. Both voltage response to pulsed-visible and to continuously modulated far-infrared radiation show two regimes of heat escape from the film to the substrate. That one dominated by the thermal boundary resistance at the film/substrate interface provides an initial exponential decay of the response. The other one prevailing at longer times or smaller modulation frequencies causes much slower decay and is governed by phonon diffusion in the substrate. The transparency of the boundary for phonons incident from the film on the substrate and also from the substrate on the film was determined separately from the characteristic time of the exponential decay and from the time at which one regime was changed to the other. Taking into account the specific heat of optical phonons and the temperature dependence of the group velocity of acoustic phonons, we show that the body of experimental data agrees with acoustic mismatch theory rather than with the model that assumes strong diffusive scattering of phonons at the interface.

Abstract: The mm-wave spectroscopy with high temporal resolution is used to measure the energy relaxation times τe of 2D electrons in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures in magnetic fields B=0–4 T under quasi-equilibrium conditions at T=4.2 K. With increasing B, a considerable increase in τe from 0.9 to 25 ns is observed. For high B and low values of the filling factor ν, the energy relaxation rate τ −1e oscillates. The depth of these oscillations and the positions of maxima depend on the filling factor ν. For ν>5, the relaxation rate τ −1e is maximum when the Fermi level lies in the region of the localized states between the Landau levels. For lower values of ν, the relaxation rate is maximum at half-integer values of τ −1e when the Fermi level is coincident with the Landau level. The characteristic features of the dependence τ −1e (B) are explained by different contributions of the intralevel and interlevel electron-phonon transitions to the process of the energy relaxation of 2D electrons.

Abstract: A Hot Electron Bolometer (HEB) mixer for 2.5 THz utilizing a NbN thin film device, integrated with a Broken Linearly Tapered Slot Antenna (BLTSA), has been fabricated and is presently being tested. The NbN HEB device and the antenna were fabricated on a SiO₂membrane. A 0.5 micrometer thick SiO₂layer was grown by rf magnetron reactive sputtering on a GaAs wafer. The HEB device (phonon-cooled type) was produced as several parallel strips, 1 micrometer wide, from an ultrathin NbN film 4-7 nm thick, that was deposited onto the SiO₂layer by dc magnetron reactive sputtering. The BLTSA was photoetched in a multilayer Ti-Au metallization. In order to strengthen the membrane, the front-side of the wafer was coated with a 5 micrometer thick polyimide layer just before the membrane formation. The last operation was anisotropic etching of the GaAs in a mixture of HNO₃and H₂O₂.

Abstract: Hot‐electron bolometric (HEB) mixing of 9.6 μm infrared radiation from two lasers in high‐quality YBa2Cu3O7−δ (YBCO) patterned thin film has been demonstrated. A heterodyne measurement showed an intermediate frequency (IF) bandwidth of 18 GHz, limited by our measurement system. An intrinsic limit of 100 GHz is predicted. Between 0.1 and 1 GHz intermediate frequency, temperature fluctuations with an equivalent output noise temperature Tfl up to ∼150 K, contributed to the mixer noise while Johnson noise dominated above 1 GHz. The overall conversion loss at 77 K at low intermediate frequencies was measured to be ∼25 dB, of which 13 dB was due to the coupling loss. The HEB mixer is very promising for use in heterodyne receivers within the whole infrared range.

Abstract: The La2CuO4 single crystals were used to carry out the measurements of transmission spectra within the submillimeter range of wavelengths, as well as the capacitance C and conductivity G in the region of acoustic frequencies of the metal-dielectric-La2Cu04 system at low temperatures. The optical spectra display a threshold character. There takes place a sharp decreasing of transmission signal in the energy range of hυ>1.5meV. The C(ω,T) and G(ω,T) dependences have a universal form characteristic of relaxation processes of the Debye type. The relaxation time dependence displays a thermoactivation character τ(T)-exp(ξ/T) with a gap value of ξ≃2meV,coinciding with the optical one. It is assumed that there exist excitations with a characteristic energy ~ 2meV in La2Cu04.A possible nature of the revealed low-energy excitations is discussed.

Abstract: For the first time, results are presented of a direct measurement of the energy relaxation time τε of 2D electrons in an AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction at T = 1 and 5–20 K. A weak temperature dependence of τε for the T > 4K range and a linear temperature dependence of the reciprocal of τε for T < 4K have been observed. The linear dependence τε−1 ≈ T in the Bloch-Gruneisen regime is direct evidence of the predominance of the piezo-electric mechanism of electron-phonon interaction in non-elastic electron scattering processes. The values of τε in this regime are in very good agreement with the results of the Karpus theory. At higher temperatures, where the deformation-potential scattering becomes noticeable, a substantial disagreement between the experimental data and the theoretical results is observed.

Abstract: The temperature dependence of the energy relaxation time τe (T) of a two-dimensional electron gas at an AlGaAs/GaAs heterointerface is measured under quasiequilibrium conditions in the region of the transition from scattering by acoustic phonons to scattering with the participation of optical phonons. The temperature interval of constant τe, where scattering by the deformation potential predominates, is determined. In the preceding, low-temperature region, where piezoacoustic and deformation-potential-induced scattering processes coexist, τ e decreases slowly with increasing temperature. Optical phonons start to participate in the scattering processes at T∼25 K (the characteristic phonon lifetime was equal to τLOτ4.5 ps). The energy losses calculated from the τe data in a model with an effective nonequilibrium electron temperature agree with the published data obtained under strong heating conditions.

Abstract: A new microwave technique was successfully applied for direct studies of energy relaxation times in two-dimensional AlGaAs/GaAs structures under quasi-equilibrium conditions in the nanosecond and picosecond time scale. We report our results of energy relaxation time measurements in the temperature range 1.6-50 K, in quantum Hall effect regime in magnetic fields up to 4 T.

Abstract: Цель настоящей работы — исследование кинетики примесной фотопрово­димости p-Ge при сильном одноосном сжатии в широком диапазоне изменения интенсивности примесного подсвета, создающего свободные дырки, и опреде­ление сечения каскадного захвата дырок на мелкие заряженные акцепторы в условиях преобладания электрон-фононного механизма потерь энергии.

Abstract: A study was made on dependence of surface resistance, critical temperature and width of superconducting transition on application temperature and thickness of NbN films, which varied within the range of 3-10 nm. Plates of sapphire, fused and monocrystalline quartz, MgO, as well as Si and silicon oxide were used as substrates. NbN films with 160 μθ·cm specific resistance and 16.5 K (Tc) critical temperature were obtained on sapphire substrates. Intensive growth of ΔTc was noted for films, applied on fused quartz, with increase of precipitation temperature. This is explained by occurrence of high tensile stresses in NbN films, caused by sufficient difference of thermal coefficients of expansion of NbN and quartz.

Abstract: The switching time and the optical control power of the NbN superconducting switch have been measured. The device is based on the ultrathin film 5-8 nm thick patterned as a structure of several narrow parallel strips (/spl sim/1 /spl mu/m wide) connected to wide current leads. The current-voltage characteristic of the switch at temperature 4.2 K demonstrated a hysteresis due to DC current self-heating. We studied the superconducting-to-resistive state transition induced by both optical and bias-current excitations. The optical pulse duration was /spl sim/20 ps and the rise time of the current step was determined to be less than 50 ps. The optical pulse was delivered to the switch by the semiconductor laser through an optical fiber. We found that the measured switching time is less than the duration of the optical excitation. The threshold optical power density does not exceed 3/spl middot/10/sup 3/ W/cm/sup 2/. The proposed device can be used in the fiber input of LTS rapid single flux quantum circuits.