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Finkel, M. I., Maslennikov, S. N., Vachtomin, Y. B., Svechnikov, S. I., Smirnov, K. V., Seleznev, V. A., et al. (2005). Hot electron bolometer mixer for 20 – 40 THz frequency range. In Proc. 16th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 393–397). Göteborg, Sweden.
Abstract: The developed HEB mixer was based on a 5 nm thick NbN film deposited on a GaAs substrate. The active area of the film was patterned as a 30×20 μm 2 strip and coupled with a 50 Ohm coplanar line deposited in situ. An extended hemispherical germanium lens was used to focus the LO radiation on the mixer. The responsivity of the mixer was measured in a direct detection mode in the 25÷64 THz frequency range. The noise performance of the mixer and the directivity of the receiver were investigated in a heterodyne mode. A 10.6 μm wavelength CW CO 2 laser was utilized as a local oscillator.
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Pentin, I., Finkel, M., Maslennikov, S., Vakhtomin, Y., Smirnov, K., Kaurova, N., et al. (2017). Superconducting hot-electron-bolometer mixers for the mid-IR. Rus. J. Radio Electron., (10), http://jre.cplire.ru/jre/oct17/9/text.pdf. Retrieved July 11, 2024, from http://jre.cplire.ru/jre/oct17/9/abstract_e.html
Abstract: The work presents the result of development of the NbN superconducting hot-electron-bolometer (HEB) mixer. The sensitive element of the mixer is directly coupled to mid-IR radiation, and doesn’t have planar metallic antenna. Investigations of noise characteristics of NbN HEB mixer were performed at the frequency 28.4 THz (λ = 10.6 µm) by using gas-discharge CW CO2-laser without consideration of optical and electrical losses in the heterodyne receiver. The noise temperature of NbN HEB mixer with the size of the sensitive element 10 µm × 10 µm was 2320 K (~ 1.5hν/kB) at the heterodyne frequency of 28.4 THz. The noise temperature was determined by measuring the Y-factor taking into account the term which describes fluctuations of zero-point oscillations in accordance with the fluctuation-dissipation theorem of Calle-Welton. Isothermal method was used to estimate the absorbed heterodyne radiation power which was 9 µW at the optimal operating point for the minimum noise temperature of NbN HEB mixer.
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Baubert, J., Salez, M., Delorme, Y., Pons, P., Goltsman, G., Merkel, H., et al. (2003). Membrane-based HEB mixer for THz applications. In J. - C. Chiao, V. K. Varadan, & C. Cané (Eds.), Proc. SPIE (Vol. 5116, pp. 551–562). SPIE.
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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Baeva, E. M., Titova, N. A., Veyrat, L., Sacépé, B., Semenov, A. V., Goltsman, G. N., et al. (2021). Thermal relaxation in metal films bottlenecked by diffuson lattice excitations of amorphous substrates. arXiv:2101.07071v1 [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]. Retrieved July 11, 2024, from https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.07071v1
Abstract: Here we examine the role of the amorphous insulating substrate in the thermal relaxation in thin NbN, InOx, and Au/Ni films at temperatures above 5 K. The studied samples are made up of metal bridges on an amorphous insulating layer lying on or suspended above a crystalline substrate. Noise thermometry was used to measure the electron temperature Te of the films as a function of Joule power per unit of area P2D. In all samples, we observe the dependence P2D∝Tne with the exponent n≃2, which is inconsistent with both electron-phonon coupling and Kapitza thermal resistance. In suspended samples, the functional dependence of P2D(Te) on the length of the amorphous insulating layer is consistent with the linear T-dependence of the thermal conductivity, which is related to lattice excitations (diffusons) for the phonon mean free path smaller than the dominant phonon wavelength. Our findings are important for understanding the operation of devices embedded in amorphous dielectrics.
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Shcherbatenko, M., Lobanov, Y., Finkel, M., Maslennikov, S., Pentin, I., Semenov, A., et al. (2014). Development of a 30 THz heterodyne receiver based on a hot-electron-bolometer mixer. In Proc. 25th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (122).
Abstract: We present new Hot-Electron-Bolometer (HEB) mixers designed for mid-IR spectroscopy targeting astrophysical and geophysical observations where high sensitivity and spectral resolution are required. The mixers are made of an ultrathin NbN film deposited on GaAs substrates. Two entirely different types of the devices have been fabricated. The first type is based on a direct radiation coupling concept and the mixing devices are shaped as squares of 5×5 μm 2 (which corresponds to the diffraction limit at the chosen wavelength) and 10×10 μm 2 (which was used to establish a possible influence of the contact pads on the radiation absorption). The second type utilizes a spiral antenna designed with HFSS. The fabrication and layout of the devices as well as the performance comparison will be presented. During the experiments, the HEB mixer was installed on the cold plate of a LHe cryostat. A germanium window and an extended semi-spherical germanium lens are used to couple the radiation. The cryostat is equipped with a germanium optical filter of thickness 0.5 mm and with a center wavelength of 10.6 mμ. The incident power absorption is measured by using the isothermal method. As a Local Oscillator, a 10.6 micrometers line of a CO2 gas laser is used. We further characterize the frequency response of the spiral antenna with a FIR-spectrometer. The noise characteristics of the mixers are determined from a room temperature cold load and a heated black body at ~600 K as a hot load.
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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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Arutyunov, K. Y., Ramos-Álvarez, A., Semenov, A. V., Korneeva, Y. P., An, P. P., Korneev, A. A., et al. (2016). Quasi-1-dimensional superconductivity in highly disordered NbN nanowires. arXiv:1602.07932v1 [cond-mat.supr-con]. Retrieved July 11, 2024, from https://arxiv.org/abs/1602.07932v1
Abstract: The topic of superconductivity in strongly disordered materials has attracted a significant attention. In particular vivid debates are related to the subject of intrinsic spatial inhomogeneity responsible for non-BCS relation between the superconducting gap and the pairing potential. Here we report experimental study of electron transport properties of narrow NbN nanowires with effective cross sections of the order of the debated inhomogeneity scales. We find that conventional models based on phase slip concept provide reasonable fits for the shape of the R(T) transition curve. Temperature dependence of the critical current follows the text-book Ginzburg-Landau prediction for quasi-one-dimensional superconducting channel Ic~(1-T/Tc)^3/2. Hence, one may conclude that the intrinsic electronic inhomogeneity either does not exist in our structures, or, if exist, does not affect their resistive state properties.
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Il'in, K., Siegel, M., Semenov, A., Engel, A., Hübers, H. - W., Hollmann, E., et al. (2004). Thickness dependence of superconducting properties of ultrathin Nb and NbN films. In AKF-Frühjahrstagung.
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Korneeva, Y., Sidorova, M., Semenov, A., Krasnosvobodtsev, S., Mitsen, K., Korneev, A., et al. (2016). Comparison of hot-spot formation in NbC and NbN single-photon detectors. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 26(3), 1–4.
Abstract: We report an experimental investigation of the hot-spot evolution in superconducting single-photon detectors made of disordered superconducting materials with different diffusivity and energy downconversion time values, i.e., 33-nm-thick NbN and 23-nm-thick NbC films. We have demonstrated that, in NbC film, only 405-nm photons produce sufficiently large hot spot to trigger a single-photon response. The dependence of detection efficiency on bias current for 405-nm photons in NbC is similar to that for 3400-nm photons in NbN. In NbC, large diffusivity and downconversion time result in 1-D critical current suppression profile compared with the usual 2-D profile in NbN.
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Baeva, E. M., Titova, N. A., Kardakova, A. I., Piatrusha, S. U., & Khrapai, V. S. (2020). Universal bottleneck for thermal relaxation in disordered metallic films. Jetp Lett., 111(2), 104–108.
Abstract: We study the heat relaxation in current biased metallic films in the regime of strong electron–phonon coupling. A thermal gradient in the direction normal to the film is predicted, with a spatial temperature profile determined by the temperature-dependent heat conduction. In the case of strong phonon scattering, the heat conduction occurs predominantly via the electronic system and the profile is parabolic. This regime leads to the linear dependence of the noise temperature as a function of bias voltage, in spite of the fact that all the dimensions of the film are large compared to the electron–phonon relaxation length. This is in stark contrast to the conventional scenario of relaxation limited by the electron–phonon scattering rate. A preliminary experimental study of a 200-nm-thick NbN film indicates the relevance of our model for materials used in superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors.
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Beck, M., Leiderer, P., Kabanov, V. V., Gol'tsman, G., Helm, M., & Demsar, J. (2012). Energy-gap dynamics of a superconductor NbN studied by time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy. In INIS (Vol. 45, pp. 1–3).
Abstract: Using time-resolved terahertz (THz) spectroscopy we performed direct studies of the photoinduced suppression and recovery of the SC gap in a conventional SC NbN. Both processes are found to be strongly temperature and excitation density dependent. The analysis of the data with the established phenomenological Rothwarf-Taylor model enabled us to determine the important microscopic constants: the Cooper pair-breaking rate via phonon absorption and the bare quasiparticle recombination rate. From the latter we were able to extract the dimensionless electron-phonon coupling constant, λ=1.1±0.1, in excellent agreement with theoretical estimates. The technique also allowed us to determine the absorbed energy required to suppress SC, which in NbN equals the thermodynamic condensation energy (in cuprates the two differ by an order of magnitude). Finally, we present the first studies of dynamics following resonant excitation with intense narrow band THz pulses tuned to above and below the superconducting gap. These suggest an additional process, particularly pronounced near Tc, that could be attributed to amplification of SC via effective quasiparticle cooling.
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Voronov, B. M., Gershenzon, E. M., Gol'tsman, G. N., Gubkina, T. O., & Semash, V. D. (1994). Superconductive properties of ultrathin NbN films on different substrates. Sverkhprovodimost': Fizika, Khimiya, Tekhnika, 7(6), 1097–1102.
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.
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Gousev, Y. P., Semenov, A. D., Gol'tsman, G. N., Sergeev, A. V., & Gershenzon, E. M. (1994). Electron-phonon interaction in disordered NbN films. Phys. B Condens. Mat., 194-196, 1355–1356.
Abstract: Electron-phonon interaction time has been investigated in disordered films of NbN. A temperatures below 5.5 K tau_eph ~ T -1"6 which is attributed to the renormalisation of phonon spectrum in thin films.
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Budyanskij, M. Y., Sejdman, L. A., Voronov, B. M., & Gubkina, T. O. (1992). Increase of reproducibility in production of superconducting thin films of niobium nitride. Sverkhprovodimost': Fizika, Khimiya, Tekhnika, 5(10), 1950–1954.
Abstract: Technique to control the composition of gas medium in the reactive magnetron discharge and the composition of the deposited films of niobium nitride using electrical parameters of discharge only, in particular, by δU = Up – Uar value at contant stabilized discharge current is described. Technique to select optimal condition for deposition of niobium nitride films when the films have composition meeting chemical formula, is suggested. Thin films of niobium nitride with up to 7 nm thickness and with rather high temperature of transition into superconducting state Tk > 10 K) and with low width of transition (δ < 0.6 K), are obtained. It is determined, that substrate material and dielectric sublayer do not affect. Tk value, while difference in coefficients of thermal expansion of substrate and of film affects δTk value.
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Корнеев, А. А., Окунев, О. В., Чулкова, Г. М., Смирнов, К. В., Милостная, И. И., Минаева, О. В., et al. (2015). Спонтанные и фотоиндуцированные резистивные состояния в узких сверхпроводящих NbN полосках. МПГУ.
Abstract: Монография посвящена актуальной проблеме современной фотоники: разработке высокочувствительных и быстродействующих сверхпроводниковых однофотонных детекторов на основе тонкой пленки NbN. В работе исследуются неравновесные процессы, протекающие в тонкой сверхпроводящей пленке после поглощения инфракрасного фотона и приводящие к возникновению резистивного состояния. На этих процессах основан механизм фотоотклика исследуемого в работе однофотонного детектора. В частности, исследуются зависимости квантовой эффективности и скорости темнового счета от геометрических параметров детектора: толщины пленки, ширины полоски, а также от величины транспортного тока детектора. Монография предназначена для студентов старших курсов, аспирантов и начинающих исследователей, работающих в области сверхпроводниковой наноэлектроники и радиофизики.
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