Records |
Author |
Slysz, W.; Wegrzecki, M.; Bar, J.; Grabiec, P.; Gorska, M.; Rieger, E.; Dorenbos, P.; Zwiller, V.; Milostnaya, I.; Minaeva, O.; Antipov, A.; Okunev, O.; Korneev, A.; Smirnov, K.; Voronov, B.; Kaurova, N.; Gol’tsman, G.N.; Kitaygorsky, J.; Pan, D.; Pearlman, A.; Cross, A.; Komissarov, I.; Sobolewski, R. |
Title |
Fiber-coupled NbN superconducting single-photon detectors for quantum correlation measurements |
Type |
Conference Article |
Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Proc. SPIE |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. SPIE |
Volume |
6583 |
Issue |
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Pages |
65830J (1 to 11) |
Keywords |
NbN SSPD, SNSPD, superconducting single-photon detectors, single-photon detectors, fiber-coupled optical detectors, quantum correlations, superconducting devices |
Abstract |
We have fabricated fiber-coupled superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs), designed for quantum-correlationtype experiments. The SSPDs are nanostructured ( 100-nm wide and 4-nm thick) NbN superconducting meandering stripes, operated in the 2 to 4.2 K temperature range, and known for ultrafast and efficient detection of visible to nearinfrared photons with almost negligible dark counts. Our latest devices are pigtailed structures with coupling between the SSPD structure and a single-mode optical fiber achieved using a micromechanical photoresist ring placed directly over the meander. The above arrangement withstands repetitive thermal cycling between liquid helium and room temperature, and we can reach the coupling efficiency of up to 33%. The system quantum efficiency, measured as the ratio of the photons counted by SSPD to the total number of photons coupled into the fiber, in our early devices was found to be around 0.3 % and 1% for 1.55 &mgr;m and 0.9 &mgr;m photon wavelengths, respectively. The photon counting rate exceeded 250 MHz. The receiver with two SSPDs, each individually biased, was placed inside a transport, 60-liter liquid helium Dewar, assuring uninterrupted operation for over 2 months. Since the receiver’s optical and electrical connections are at room temperature, the set-up is suitable for any applications, where single-photon counting capability and fast count rates are desired. In our case, it was implemented for photon correlation experiments. The receiver response time, measured as a second-order photon cross-correlation function, was found to be below 400 ps, with timing jitter of less than 40 ps. |
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Spie |
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Dusek, M.; Hillery, M.S.; Schleich, W.P.; Prochazka, I.; Migdall, A.L.; Pauchard, A. |
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Photon Counting Applications, Quantum Optics, and Quantum Cryptography |
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Serial |
1431 |
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Author |
Ryabchun, S.; Tong, C.-yu E.; Blundell, R.; Kimberk, R.; Gol’tsman, G. |
Title |
Effect of microwave radiation on the stability of terahertz hot-electron bolometer mixers |
Type |
Conference Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Proc. SPIE |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. SPIE |
Volume |
6373 |
Issue |
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Pages |
63730J (1 to 5) |
Keywords |
NbN HEB mixers, hot-electron bolometer mixers, stability, Allan variance, LO power fluctuations |
Abstract |
We report our studies of the effect of microwave radiation, with a frequency much lower than that corresponding to the energy gap of the superconductor, on the performance of the NbN hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixer incorporated into a THz heterodyne receiver. It is shown that exposing the HEB mixer to microwave radiation does not result in a significant rise of the receiver noise temperature and degradation of the mixer conversion gain so long as the level of microwave power is small compared to the local oscillator drive. Hence the injection of a small, but controlled amount of microwave radiation enables active compensation of local oscillator power and coupling fluctuations which can significantly degrade the stability of HEB mixer receivers. |
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SPIE |
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Anwar, M.; DeMaria, A.J.; Shur, M.S. |
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Terahertz Physics, Devices, and Systems |
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1441 |
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Cherednichenko, S.; Drakinskiy, V.; Baubert, J.; Lecomte, B.; Dauplay, F.; Krieg, J. M.; Delorme, Y.; Feret, A.; Hübers, H. W.; Semenov, A. D.; Gol'tsman, G. N. |
Title |
2.5 THz multipixel heterodyne receiver based on NbN HEB mixers |
Type |
Conference Article |
Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Proc. SPIE |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. SPIE |
Volume |
6275 |
Issue |
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Pages |
62750I (1 to 11) |
Keywords |
HEB, mixer, membrane |
Abstract |
A 16 pixel heterodyne receiver for 2.5 THz has been developed based on NbN superconducting hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers. The receiver uses a quasioptical RF coupling approach where HEB mixers are integrated into double dipole antennas on 1.5 µm thick Si3N4/SiO2 membranes. Spherical mirrors (one per pixel) and backshort distance from the antenna have been used to design the output mixer beam profile. The camera design allows all 16 pixel IF readout in parallel. The gain bandwidth of the HEB mixers on Si3N4/SiO2 membranes was found to be 0.7÷0.9 GHz, which is much smaller than for similar devices on silicon. Application of buffer layers and use of alternative types of membranes (e.g. silicon-on-insulator) is under investigation. |
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561 |
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Slysz, W.; Wegrzecki, M.; Bar, J.; Grabiec, P.; Górska, M.; Latta, C.; Zwiller, V.; Pearlman, A.; Cross, A.; Korneev, A.; Kouminov, P.; Smirnov, K.; Voronov, B.; Gol’tsman, G.; Verevkin, A.; Currie, M.; Sobolewski, R. |
Title |
Fiber-coupled quantum-communications receiver based on two NbN superconducting single-photon detectors |
Type |
Conference Article |
Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Proc. SPIE |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. SPIE |
Volume |
5957 |
Issue |
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Pages |
59571K (1 to 10) |
Keywords |
SSPD, SNSPD, single-photon detectors, quantum communication, quantum cryptography, superconductors, infrared optical detectors |
Abstract |
We present the design and performance of a novel, two-channel single-photon receiver, based on two fiber-coupled NbN superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs). The SSPDs are nanostructured superconducting meanders covering an area of 100 μm2 and are known for ultrafast and efficient counting of single, visible-to-infrared photons. Their operation has been explained within a phenomenological hot-electron photoresponse model. Our receiver is intended for fiber-based quantum cryptography and communication systems, operational at near-infrared (NIR) telecommunication wavelengths, λ = 1.3 μm and λ = 1.55 μm. Coupling between the NbN detector and a single-mode optical fiber was achieved using a specially designed, micromechanical photoresist ring, positioned directly over the SSPD active area. The positioning accuracy of the ring was below 1 μm. The receiver with SSPDs was placed (immersed) in a standard liquid-helium transport Dewar and kept without interruption for over two months at 4.2 K. At the same time, the optical fiber inputs and electrical outputs were kept at room temperature. Our best system reached a system quantum efficiency of up to 0.3 % in the NIR radiation range, with the detector coupling efficiency of about 30 %. The response time was measured to be about 250 ps and was limited by our read-out electronics. The measured jitter was close to 35 ps. The presented performance parameters show that our NIR single photon detectors are suitable for practical quantum cryptography and for applications in quantum-correlation experiments. |
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SPIE |
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Rogalski, A.; Dereniak, E.L.; Sizov, F.F. |
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Infrared Photoelectronics |
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Serial |
1459 |
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Author |
Milostnaya, I.; Korneev, A.; Minaeva, O.; Rubtsova, I.; Slepneva, S.; Seleznev, V.; Chulkova, G.; Okunev, O.; Smirnov, K.; Voronov, B.; Gol’tsman, G.; Slysz, W.; Kitaygorsky, J.; Cross, A.; Pearlman, A.; Sobolewski, R. |
Title |
Superconducting nanostructured detectors capable of single photon counting of mid-infrared optical radiation |
Type |
Conference Article |
Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Proc. SPIE |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. SPIE |
Volume |
5957 |
Issue |
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Pages |
59570A (1 to 9) |
Keywords |
SSPD, SNSPD, single-photon detectors, superconductors, superconducting |
Abstract |
We report on our progress in research and development of ultrafast superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs) based on ultrathin NbN nanostructures. Our SSPDs were made of the 4-nm-thick NbN films with Tc 11 K, patterned as meander-shaped, 100-nm-wide strips, and covering an area of 10×10 μm2. The detectors exploit a combined detection mechanism, where upon a single-photon absorption, a hotspot of excited electrons and redistribution of the biasing supercurrent, jointly produce a picosecond voltage transient signal across the superconducting nanostripe. The SSPDs are typically operated at 4.2 K, but their sensitivity in the infrared radiation range can be significantly improved by lowering the operating temperature from 4.2 K to 2 K. When operated at 2 K, the SSPD quantum efficiency (QE) for visible light photons reaches 30-40%, which is the saturation value limited by the optical absorption of our 4-nm-thick NbN film. With the wavelength increase of the incident photons,the QE of SSPDs decreases significantly, but even at the wavelength of 6 μm, the detector is able to count single photons and exhibits QE of about 10-2 %. The dark (false) count rate at 2 K is as low as 2x10-4 s,-1 which makes our detector essentially a background-limited sensor. The very low dark-count rate results in a noise equivalent power (NEP) below 10-18 WHz-1/2 for the mid-infrared range (6 μm). Further improvement of the SSPD performance in the mid-infrared range can be obtained by substituting NbN for another, lower-Tc materials with a narrow superconducting gap and low quasiparticles diffusivity. The use of such superconductors should shift the cutoff wavelength below 10 μm. |
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SPIE |
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Rogalski, A.; Dereniak, E.L.; Sizov, F.F. |
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Infrared Photoelectronics |
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Serial |
1458 |
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Author |
Hubers, H.-W.; Semenov, A.; Richter, H.; Schwarz, M.; Gunther, B.; Smirnov, K.; Gol’tsman, G.; Voronov, B. |
Title |
Heterodyne receiver for 3-5 THz with hot-electron bolometer mixer |
Type |
Conference Article |
Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Proc. SPIE |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. SPIE |
Volume |
5498 |
Issue |
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Pages |
579-586 |
Keywords |
NbN HEB mixers |
Abstract |
Heterodyne receivers for applications in astronomy and planetary research need quantum limited sensitivity. In instruments which are currently build for SOFIA and Herschel superconducting hot electron bolometers (HEB) will be used to achieve this goal at frequencies above 1.4 THz. The local oscillator and the mixer are the most critical components for a heterodyne receiver operating at 3-5 THz. The design and performance of an optically pumped THz gas laser optimized for this frequency band will be presented. In order to optimize the performance for this frequency hot electron bolometer mixers with different in-plane dimensions and logarithmic-spiral feed antennas have been investigated. Their noise temperatures and beam patterns were measured. Above 3 THz the best performance was achieved with a superconducting bridge of 2.0 x 0.2 μm2 incorporated in a logarithmic spiral antenna. The DSB noise temperatures were 2700 K, 4700 K and 6400 K at 3.1 THz, 4.3 THz and 5.2 THz, respectively. The results demonstrate that the NbN HEB is very well suited as a mixer for THz heterodyne receivers up to at least 5 THz. |
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SPIE |
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Zmuidzinas, J.; Holland, W.S.; Withington, S. |
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Millimeter and Submillimeter Detectors for Astronomy II |
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1483 |
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Baubert, J.; Salez, M.; Delorme, Y.; Pons, P.; Goltsman, G.; Merkel, H.; Leconte, B. |
Title |
Membrane-based HEB mixer for THz applications |
Type |
Conference Article |
Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Proc. SPIE |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. SPIE |
Volume |
5116 |
Issue |
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Pages |
551-562 |
Keywords |
membrane NbN HEB mixers, heterodyne receiver, stress-less membrane, coupling efficiency, submillimeter-waves frequency, low-cost space applications |
Abstract |
We report in this paper a new concept for 2.7 THz superconducting Niobium nitride (NbN) Hot-Electron Bolometer mixer (HEB). The membrane process was developped for space telecommnunication applications a few years ago and the HEB mixer concept is now considered as the best choice for low-noise submillimeter-wave frequency heterodyne receivers. The idea is then to join these two technologies. The novel fabrication scheme is to fabricate a NbN HEB mixer on a 1 μm thick stress-less Si3N4/SiO2 membrane. This seems to present numerous improvements concerning : use at higher RF frequencies, power coupling efficiency, HEB mixer sensitivity, noise temperature, and space applications. This work is to be continued within the framework of an ESA TRP project, a 2.7 THz heterodyne camera with numerous applications including a SOFIA airborne receiver. This paper presents the whole fabrication process, the validation tests and preliminary results. Membrane-based HEB mixer theory is currently being investigated and further tests such as heterodyne and Fourier transform spectrometry measurement are planed shortly. |
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SPIE |
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Chiao, J.-C.; Varadan, V.K.; Cané, C. |
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Smart Sensors, Actuators, and MEMS |
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1520 |
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Goltsman, G.; Korneev, A.; Minaeva, O.; Rubtsova, I.; Chulkova, G.; Milostnaya, I.; Smirnov, K.; Voronov, B.; Lipatov, A. P.; Pearlman, A. J.; Cross, A.; Slysz, W.; Verevkin, A. A.; Sobolewski, R. |
Title |
Advanced nanostructured optical NbN single-photon detector operated at 2.0 K |
Type |
Conference Article |
Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Proc. SPIE |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. SPIE |
Volume |
5732 |
Issue |
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Pages |
520-529 |
Keywords |
NbN SSPD, SNSPD |
Abstract |
We present our studies on quantum efficiency (QE), dark counts, and noise equivalent power (NEP) of the latest generation of nanostructured NbN superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs) operated at 2.0 K. Our SSPDs are based on 4 nm-thick NbN films, patterned by electron beam lithography as highly-uniform 100÷120-nm-wide meander-shaped stripes, covering the total area of 10x10 μm2 with the meander filling factor of 0.7. Advances in the fabrication process and low-temperature operation lead to QE as high as 30-40% for visible-light photons (0.56 μm wavelength)-the saturation value, limited by optical absorption of the NbN film. For 1.55 μm photons, QE was 20% and decreased exponentially with the wavelength reaching 0.02% at the 5-μm wavelength. Being operated at 2.0-K temperature the SSPDs revealed an exponential decrease of the dark count rate, what along with the high QE, resulted in the NEP as low as 5x10-21 W/Hz-1/2, the lowest value ever reported for near-infrared optical detectors. The SSPD counting rate was measured to be above 1 GHz with the pulse-to-pulse jitter below 20 ps. Our nanostructured NbN SSPDs operated at 2.0 K significantly outperform their semiconducting counterparts and find practical applications ranging from noninvasive testing of CMOS VLSI integrated circuits to ultrafast quantum communications and quantum cryptography. |
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Spie |
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Razeghi, M.; Brown, G.J. |
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Quantum Sensing and Nanophotonic Devices II |
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1478 |
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Verevkin, A. A.; Zhang, J.; Slysz, W.; Sobolewski, R.; Lipatov, A. P.; Okunev, O.; Chulkova, G.; Korneev, A.; Gol’tsman, G. N. |
Title |
Superconducting single-photon detectors for GHz-rate free-space quantum communications |
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Conference Article |
Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Proc. SPIE |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. SPIE |
Volume |
4821 |
Issue |
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Pages |
447-454 |
Keywords |
NbN SSPD, SNSPD, single-photon detector, thin-film superconductivity, quantum cryptography, ultrafast communications |
Abstract |
We report our studies on the performance of new NbN ultrathin-film superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs). Our SSPDs exhibit experimentally measured quantum efficiencies from 5% at wavelength λ = 1550 nm up to 10% at λ = 405 nm, with exponential, activation-energy-type spectral sensitivity dependence in the 0.4-μm – 3-μm wavelength range. Using a variable optical delay setup, we have shown that our NbN SSPDs can resolve optical photons with a counting rate up to 10 GHz, presently limited by the read-out electronics. The measured device jitter was below 35 ps under optimum biasing conditions. The extremely high photon counting rate, together with relatively high (especially for λ > 1 μm) quantum efficiency, low jitter, and very low dark counts, make NbN SSPDs very promising for free-space communications and quantum cryptography. |
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SPIE |
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Ricklin, J.C.; Voelz, D.G. |
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Free-Space Laser Communication and Laser Imaging II |
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1523 |
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Huebers, H.-W.; Schubert, J.; Semenov, A.; Gol’tsman, G. N.; Voronov, B. M.; Gershenzon, E. M.; Schwaab, G. W. |
Title |
NbN phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometer as a mixer for THz heterodyne receivers |
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Conference Article |
Year |
1999 |
Publication |
Proc. SPIE |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. SPIE |
Volume |
3828 |
Issue |
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Pages |
410-416 |
Keywords |
NbN HEB mixers |
Abstract |
We have investigated a phonon-cooled NbN hot electron bolometric (HEB) mixer in the frequency range from 0.7 THz to 5.2 THz. The device was a 3.5 nm thin film with an in- plane dimension of 1.7 X 0.2 micrometers 2 integrated in a complementary logarithmic spiral antenna. The measured DSB receiver noise temperatures are 1500 K, 2200 K, 2600 K, 2900 K, 4000 K, 5600 K and 8800 K. The sensitivity fluctuation, the long term stability, and the antenna pattern were measured and the suitability of the mixer for a practical heterodyne receiver is discussed. |
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Spie |
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Chamberlain, J.M. |
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Terahertz Spectroscopy and Applications II |
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1477 |
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