Reiger, E., Pan, D., Slysz, W., Jukna, A., Sobolewski, R., Dorenbos, S., et al. (2007). Spectroscopy with nanostructured superconducting single photon detectors. IEEE J. Select. Topics Quantum Electron., 13(4), 934–943.
Abstract: Superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs) are nanostructured devices made from ultrathin superconducting films. They are typically operated at liquid helium temperature and exhibit high detection efficiency, in combination with very low dark counts, fast response time, and extremely low timing jitter, within a broad wavelength range from ultraviolet to mid-infrared (up to 6 mu m). SSPDs are very attractive for applications such as fiber-based telecommunication, where single-photon sensitivity and high photon-counting rates are required. We review the current state-of-the-art in the SSPD research and development, and compare the SSPD performance to the best semiconducting avalanche photodiodes and other superconducting photon detectors. Furthermore, we demonstrate that SSPDs can also be successfully implemented in photon-energy-resolving experiments. Our approach is based on the fact that the size of the hotspot, a nonsuperconducting region generated upon photon absorption, is linearly dependent on the photon energy. We introduce a statistical method, where, by measuring the SSPD system detection efficiency at different bias currents, we are able to resolve the wavelength of the incident photons with a resolution of 50 nm.
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Lusche, R., Semenov, A., Ilin, K., Siegel, M., Korneeva, Y., Trifonov, A., et al. (2014). Effect of the wire width on the intrinsic detection efficiency of superconducting-nanowire single-photon detectors. J. Appl. Phys., 116(4), 043906 (1 to 9).
Abstract: A thorough spectral study of the intrinsic single-photon detection efficiency in superconducting TaN and NbN nanowires with different widths has been performed. The experiment shows that the cut-off of the intrinsic detection efficiency at near-infrared wavelengths is most likely controlled by the local suppression of the barrier for vortex nucleation around the absorption site. Beyond the cut-off quasi-particle diffusion in combination with spontaneous, thermally activated vortex crossing explains the detection process. For both materials, the reciprocal cut-off wavelength scales linearly with the wire width where the scaling factor agrees with the hot-spot detection model.
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Nikoghosyan, A. S., Martirosyan, R. M., Hakhoumian, A. A., Makaryan, A. H., Tadevosyan, V. R., Goltsman, G. N., et al. (2018). Effect of absorption on the efficiency of THz radiation generation in a nonlinear crystal placed into a waveguide. Armenian J. Phys., 11(4), 257–262.
Abstract: The effect of THz radiation absorption on the efficiency of generation of coherent THz radiation in a nonlinear optical crystal placed into a metal rectangular waveguide is studied. The efficiency of the nonlinear conversion of optical laser radiation to the THz band is also a function of the phase-matching (PM) condition inside the nonlinear crystal. The method of partial filling of a metal waveguide with a nonlinear optical crystal is used to ensure phase matching. Phase matching was obtained by the proper choice of the thickness of the nonlinear crystal, namely the degree of partial filling of the waveguide. We have studied the THz radiation attenuation caused by the losses in both the metal walls of the waveguide and in the crystal, taking into account the dimension of the cross section of the waveguide, the degree of partial filling and its dielectric constant.
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Iomdina, E. N., Seliverstov, S. V., Sianosyan, A. A., Teplyakova, K. O., Rusova, A. A., & Goltsman, G. N. (2018). Terahertz scanning for evaluation of corneal and scleral hydration. STM, 10(4), 143–149.
Abstract: The aim of the investigation was to study the prospects of using continuous THz scanning of the cornea and the sclera to determine water concentration in these tissues and on the basis of the obtained data to develop the experimental installation for monitoring corneal and scleral hydration degree.Materials and Methods. To evaluate corneal and scleral transmittance and reflectance spectra in the THz range, the developed experimental installations were used to study 3 rabbit corneas and 3 scleras, 2 whole rabbit eyes, and 3 human scleras. Besides, two rabbit eyes were studied in vivo prior to keratorefractive surgery as well as 10 and 21 days following the surgery (LASIK).Results. There have been created novel experimental installations enabling in vitro evaluation of frequency dependence of corneal and scleral transmittance coefficients and reflectance coefficients on water percentage in the THz range. Decrease in corneal water content by 1% was found to lead to reliably established decrease in the reflected signal by 13%. The reflectance spectrum of the whole rabbit eye was measured in the range of 0.13–0.32 THz. The study revealed the differences between the indices of rabbit cornea and sclera, as well as rabbit and human sclera. There was developed a laboratory model of the installation for in vivo evaluation of corneal and scleral hydration using THz radiation.Conclusion. The preliminary findings show that the proposed technique based on the use of continuous THz radiation can be employed to create a device for noninvasive control of corneal and scleral hydration.
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Trifonov, A., Tong, C. - Y. E., Grimes, P., Lobanov, Y., Kaurova, N., Blundell, R., et al. (2017). Development of a silicon membrane-based multipixel hot electron bolometer receiver. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 27(4), 1–5.
Abstract: We report on the development of a multipixel hot electron bolometer (HEB) receiver fabricated using silicon membrane technology. The receiver comprises a 2 × 2 array of four HEB mixers, fabricated on a single chip. The HEB mixer chip is based on a superconducting NbN thin-film deposited on top of the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. The thicknesses of the device layer and handling layer of the SOI substrate are 20 and 300 μm, respectively. The thickness of the device layer is chosen such that it corresponds to a quarter-wave in silicon at 1.35 THz. The HEB mixer is integrated with a bow-tie antenna structure, in turn designed for coupling to a circular waveguide, fed by a monolithic drilled smooth-walled horn array.
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