Lobanov, Y. V., Vakhtomin, Y. B., Pentin, I. V., Rosental, V. A., Smirnov, K. V., Goltsman, G. N., et al. (2021). Time-resolved measurements of light–current characteristic and mode competition in pulsed THz quantum cascade laser. Optical Engineering, 60(8), 1–8.
Abstract: Quantum cascade lasers (QCL) are widely adopted as prominent and easy-to-use solid-state sources of terahertz radiation. Yet some applications require generation and detection of very sharp and narrow terahertz-range pulses with a specific spectral composition. We have studied time-resolved light-current (L–I) characteristics of multimode THz QCL operated with a fast ramp of the injection current. Detection of THz pulses was carried out using an NbN superconducting hot-electron bolometer with the time constant of the order of 1 ns while the laser bias current was swept during a single driving pulse. A nonmonotonic behavior of the L–I characteristic with several visually separated subpeaks was found. This behavior is associated with the mode competition in THz QCL cavity, which we confirm by L–I measurements with use of an external Fabry–Perot interferometer for a discrete mode selection. We also have demonstrated the possibility to control the L–I shape with suppression of one of the subpeaks by simply adjusting the off-axis parabolic mirror for optimal optical alignment for one of the laser modes. The developed technique paves the way for rapid characterization of pulsed THz QCLs for further studies of the possibilities of using this approach in remote sensing.
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Rasulova, G. K., Pentin, I. V., Vakhtomin, Y. B., Smirnov, K. V., Khabibullin, R. A., Klimov, E. A., et al. (2020). Pulsed terahertz radiation from a double-barrier resonant tunneling diode biased into self-oscillation regime. J. Appl. Phys., 128(22), 224303 (1 to 11).
Abstract: The study of the bolometer response to terahertz (THz) radiation from a double-barrier resonant tunneling diode (RTD) biased into the negative differential conductivity region of the I–V characteristic revealed that the RTD emits two pulses in a period of intrinsic self-oscillations of current. The bolometer pulse repetition rate is a multiple of the fundamental frequency of the intrinsic self-oscillations of current. The bolometer pulses are detected at two critical points with a distance between them being half or one-third of a period of the current self-oscillations. An analysis of the current self-oscillations and the bolometer response has shown that the THz photon emission is excited when the tunneling electrons are trapped in (the first pulse) and then released from (the second pulse) miniband states.
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Ryabchun, S. A., Tretyakov, I. V., Finkel, M. I., Maslennikov, S. N., Kaurova, N. S., Seleznev, V. A., et al. (2008). Fabrication and characterisation of NbN HEB mixers with in situ gold contacts. In Proc. 19th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 62–67). Groningen, Netherlands.
Abstract: We present our recent results of the fabrication and testing of NbN hot-electron bolometer mixers with in situ gold contacts. An intermediate frequency bandwidth of about 6 GHz has been measured for the mixers made of a 3.5-nm NbN film on a plane Si substrate with in situ gold contacts, compared to 3.5 GHz for devices made of the same film with ex situ gold contacts. The increase in the intermediate frequency bandwidth is attributed to additional diffusion cooling through the improved contacts, which is further supported by the its dependence on the bridge length: intermediate frequency bandwidths of 3.5 GHz and 6 GHz have been measured for devices with lengths of 0.35 μm and 0.16 μm respectively at a local oscillator frequency of 300 GHz near the superconducting transition. At a local oscillator frequency of 2.5 THz the receiver has offered a DSB noise temperature of 950 K. When compared to the previous result of 1300 K obtained at the same local oscillator frequency for devices fabricated with an ex situ route, such a low value of the noise temperature may also be attributed to the improved gold contacts.
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Tretyakov, I. V., Finkel, M. I., Ryabchun, S. A., Kardakova, A. I., Seliverstov, S. V., Petrenko, D. V., et al. (2014). Hot-electron bolometer mixers with in situ contacts. Radiophys. Quant. Electron., 56(8-9), 591–598.
Abstract: We report on the latest achievements in the development of superconducting hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers for terahertz superheterodyne receivers. We consider application ranges of such receivers and requirements for the basic characteristics of the mixers. Main features of the mixers, such as noise temperature, gain bandwidth, noise bandwidth, and required local-oscillator power, have been improved significantly over the past few years due to intense research work, both in terms of the element fabrication quality and in terms of understanding of the physics of the processes occurring in the HEB mixers. Contacts between the superconducting bridge and the planar antenna play a key role in the mixer operation. Improvement of the quality of the contacts leads simultaneously to a decrease in the noise temperature and an increase in the gain bandwidth of a mixer.
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Angeluts, A. A., Bezotosnyi, V. V., Cheshev, E. A., Goltsman, G. N., Finkel, M. I., Seliverstov, S. V., et al. (2014). Compact 1.64 THz source based on a dual-wavelength diode end-pumped Nd:YLF laser with a nearly semiconfocal cavity. Laser Phys. Lett., 11(1), 015004 (1 to 4).
Abstract: We describe a compact dual-wavelength (1.047 and 1.053 μm) diode end-pumped Q-switched Nd:YLE laser source which has a number of applications in demand. In order to achieve its dual-wavelength operation it is suggested for the first time to use essentially nonmonotonous dependences of the threshold pump powers at these wavelengths on the cavity length in the region of the cavity semiconfocal configuration under a radius of the pump beam smaller than the radius of the zero Gaussian mode. Here we demonstrate one of the most interesting applications for this laser: difference frequency generation in a GaSe crystal at a frequency of 1.64 THz. A superconducting hot-electron bolometer is used to detect the THz power generated and to measure its pulse characteristics.
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Gershenzon, E. M., Goltsman, G. N., Semenov, A. D., & Sergeev, A. V. (1989). Limiting characteristic of fast superconducting bolometers. Sov. Phys.-Tech. Phys., 34, 195–199.
Abstract: Теоретически и экспериментально исследовано физическое ограничение быстродействия сверхпроводящего болометра. Показано, что минимальная постоянная времени реализуется в условиях электронного разогрева и определяется процессом неупругого электрон-фонон- ного взаимодействия. Сформулированы требования кконструкции «электронного болометра» для достижения предельной чувствительности. Проведено сравнение характеристик электронного болометра и обычных болометров различных типов.
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Ozhegov, R. V., Smirnov, A. V., Vakhtomin, Y. B., Smirnov, K. V., Divochiy, A. V., & Goltsman, G. N. (2009). Ultrafast superconducting bolometer receivers for terahertz applications. In Proc. PIERS (867). 777 Concord Avenue, Suite 207 Cambridge, MA 02138: The Electromagnetics Academy.
Abstract: The research by the group of Moscow State Pedagogical University into the hot-electron phenomena in thin superconducting films has led to the development of new types of detectors and their use both in fundamental and applied studies. In this paper, we present the results of testing the terahertz HEB receiver systems based on ultrathin (∼ 4 nm) NbN and MoRe detectors with a response time of 50 ps and 1 ns, respectively. We have developed three types of devices which differ in the way a terahertz signal is coupled to the detector and cover the following ranges: 0.3–3 THz, 0.1–30 THz and 25–70 THz. In the case of the receiving system optimized for 0.3–3 THz, the sensitive element (a strip of asuperconductor with planar dimensions of 0.2μm (length) by 1.7μm (width)) was integrated witha planar broadband log-spiral antenna. For additional focusing ofthe incident radiation a silicon hyperhemispherical lens was used. For the 0.1–30 THz receivingsystem, the sensitive element was patterned as parallel strips(2μm wide each) filling an area of 500×500μm2with a filling factor of 0.5. In the receivingsystem of this type we used direct coupling of the incident radiation to the sensitive element. Inthe 25–70 THz range (detector type 2/2a in Table 1) we used a square-shaped superconductingdetector with planar dimensions of 10×10μm2. Incident radiation was coupled to the detectorwith the use of a germanium hyperhemispherical lens.The response time of the above receiving systems is determined by the cooling rate of the hotelectrons in the film. That depends on the electron-phonon interaction time, which is less forultrathin NbN than in MoRe.
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Zhang, W., Miao, W., Zhong, J. Q., Shi, S. C., Hayton, D. J., Vercruyssen, N., et al. (2013). Temperature dependence of superconducting hot electron bolometers. In Not published results: 24th international symposium on space terahertz technology.
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Gershenzon, E. M., Gershenson, M. E., Goltsman, G. N., Lyulkin, A. M., Semenov, A. D., & Sergeev, A. V. (1989). Limiting characteristics of fast-response superconducting bolometers. Zhurnal Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, 59(2), 11–120.
Abstract: Теоретически и экспериментально исследовано физическое ограничение быстродействия сверхпроводящего болометра. Показано, что минимальная постоянная времени реализуется в условиях электронного разогрева и определяется процессом неупругого электрон-фонон-ного взаимодействия. Сформулированы требования к конструкции «электронного болометра» для достижения предельной чувствительности. Проведено сравнение характеристик электронного болометра и обычных болометров различных типов.
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Gayduchenko, I. A., Moskotin, M. V., Matyushkin, Y. E., Rybin, M. G., Obraztsova, E. D., Ryzhii, V. I., et al. (2018). The detection of sub-terahertz radiation using graphene-layer and graphene-nanoribbon FETs with asymmetric contacts. In Materials Today: Proc. (Vol. 5, pp. 27301–27306).
Abstract: We report on the detection of sub-terahertz radiation using single layer graphene and graphene-nanoribbon FETs with asymmetric contacts (one is the Schottky contact and one – the Ohmic contact). We found that cutting graphene into ribbons a hundred nanometers wide leads to a decrease of the response to sub-THz radiation. We show that suppression of the response in the graphene nanoribbons devices can be explained by unusual properties of the Schottky barrier on graphene-vanadium interface.
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