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Gol’tsman, G. N., Okunev, O., Chulkova, G., Lipatov, A., Semenov, A., Smirnov, K., et al. (2001). Picosecond superconducting single-photon optical detector. Appl. Phys. Lett., 79(6), 705–707.
Abstract: We experimentally demonstrate a supercurrent-assisted, hotspot-formation mechanism for ultrafast detection and counting of visible and infrared photons. A photon-induced hotspot leads to a temporary formation of a resistive barrier across the superconducting sensor strip and results in an easily measurable voltage pulse. Subsequent hotspot healing in ∼30 ps time frame, restores the superconductivity (zero-voltage state), and the detector is ready to register another photon. Our device consists of an ultrathin, very narrow NbN strip, maintained at 4.2 K and current-biased close to the critical current. It exhibits an experimentally measured quantum efficiency of ∼20% for 0.81 μm wavelength photons and negligible dark counts.
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Shcherbatenko, M., Lobanov, Y., Semenov, A., Kovalyuk, V., Korneev, A., Ozhegov, R., et al. (2016). Potential of a superconducting photon counter for heterodyne detection at the telecommunication wavelength. Opt. Express, 24(26), 30474–30484.
Abstract: Here, we report on the successful operation of a NbN thin film superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) in a coherent mode (as a mixer) at the telecommunication wavelength of 1550 nm. Providing the local oscillator power of the order of a few picowatts, we were practically able to reach the quantum noise limited sensitivity. The intermediate frequency gain bandwidth (also referred to as response or conversion bandwidth) was limited by the spectral band of a single-photon response pulse of the detector, which is proportional to the detector size. We observed a gain bandwidth of 65 MHz and 140 MHz for 7 x 7 microm2 and 3 x 3 microm2 devices, respectively. A tiny amount of the required local oscillator power and wide gain and noise bandwidths, along with unnecessary low noise amplification, make this technology prominent for various applications, with the possibility for future development of a photon counting heterodyne-born large-scale array.
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Baeva, E., Sidorova, M., Korneev, A., & Goltsman, G. (2018). Precise measurement of the thermal conductivity of superconductor. In Proc. AIP Conf. (Vol. 1936, 020003 (1 to 4)).
Abstract: Measuring the thermal properties such as the heat capacity provide information about intrinsic mechanisms operated inside. In general, the ratio between electron and phonon specific heat Ce/Cp shows how the absorbed energy shared between electron and phonon subsystems. In this work we make estimations for amplitude-modulated absorption of THz radiation technique for investigation of the ratio Ce/Cp in superconducting Niobium Nitride (NbN) at T = Tc. Our results indicates that experimentally the frequency of modulation has to be extra large to extract the quantity. We perform a new technique allowed to work at low frequency with accurately measurement of absorbed power.
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Trifonov, A., Tong, C. - Y. E., Blundell, R., Ryabchun, S., & Gol'tsman, G. (2015). Probing the stability of HEB mixers with microwave injection. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 25(3), 2300404 (1 to 4).
Abstract: Using a microwave probe as a tool, we have performed experiments aimed at understanding the origin of the output-power fluctuations in hot-electron-bolometer (HEB) mixers. We use a probe frequency of 1.5 GHz. The microwave probe picks up impedance changes of the HEB, which are examined upon demodulation of the reflected wave outside the cryostat. This study shows that the HEB mixer operates in two different regimes under a terahertz pump. At a low pumping level, strong pulse modulation is observed, as the device switches between the superconducting state and the normal state at a rate of a few megahertz. When pumped much harder, to approximate the low-noise mixer operating point, residual modulation can still be observed, showing that the HEB mixer is intrinsically unstable even in the resistive state. Based on these observations, we introduced a low-frequency termination to the HEB mixer. By terminating the device in a 50-Ω resistor in the megahertz frequency range, we have been able to improve the output-power Allan time of our HEB receiver by a factor of four to about 10 s for a detection bandwidth of 15 MHz, with a corresponding gain fluctuation of about 0.035%.
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Larrey, V., Villegier, J. - C., Salez, M., Miletto-Granozio, F., & Karpov, A. (1999). Processing and characterization of high Jc NbN superconducting tunnel junctions for THz analog circuits and RSFQ. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 9(2), 3216–3219.
Abstract: A generic NbN Superconducting Tunnel Junctions (STJ) technology has been developed using conventional substrates (Si and SOI-SIMOX) for making THz spectrometers including SIS receivers and RSFQ logic gates. NbN/MgO/NbN junctions with area of 1 /spl mu/m/sup 2/, Jc of 10 kA/cm/sup 2/ and low sub-gap leakage current (Vm>25 mV) are currently obtained from room temperature sputtered multilayers followed by a post-annealing at 250/spl deg/C. Using a thin MgO buffer layer deposited underneath the NbN electrodes, ensures lower NbN surface resistance values (Rs=7 /spl mu//spl Omega/) at 10 GHz and 4 K. Epitaxial NbN [100] films on MgO [100] with high gap frequency (1.4 THz) have also been achieved under the same deposition conditions at room temperature. The NbN SIS has shown good I-V photon induced steps when LO pumped at 300 GHz. We have developed an 8 levels Al/NbN multilayer process for making 1.5 THz SIS mixers (including Al antennas) on Si membranes patterned in SOI-SIMOX. Using the planarization techniques developed at the Si-MOS CEA-LETI Facility, we have also demonstrated on the possibility of extending our NbN technology to high level RSFQ circuit integration with 0.5 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ junction area, made on large area substrates (up to 8 inches).
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Chen, J., Kang, L., Jin, B. B., Xu, W. W., Wu, P. H., Zhang, W., et al. (2008). Properties of terahertz superconducting hot electron bolometer mixers. Int. J. Terahertz Sci. Technol., 1(1), 37–41.
Abstract: A quasi-optical superconducting niobium nitride (NbN) hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer has been fabricated and measured in the terahertz (THz) frequency range of 0.5~2.52 THz. A receiver noise temperature of 2000 K at 2.52 THz has been obtained for the mixer without corrections. Also, the effect of a Parylene C anti-reflection (AR) coating on the silicon (Si) lens has been studied.
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Korneev, A., Matvienko, V., Minaeva, O., Milostnaya, I., Rubtsova, I., Chulkova, G., et al. (2005). Quantum efficiency and noise equivalent power of nanostructured, NbN, single-photon detectors in the wavelength range from visible to infrared. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 15(2), 571–574.
Abstract: We present our studies on the quantum efficiency (QE) and the noise equivalent power (NEP) of the latest-generation, nanostructured, superconducting, single-photon detectors (SSPDs) in the wavelength range from 0.5 to 5.6 /spl mu/m, operated at temperatures in the 2.0- to 4.2-K range. Our detectors are designed as 4-nm-thick and 100-nm-wide NbN meander-shaped stripes, patterned by electron-beam lithography and cover a 10/spl times/10-/spl mu/m/sup 2/ active area. The best-achieved QE at 2.0 K for 1.55-/spl mu/m photons is 17%, and QE for 1.3-/spl mu/m infrared photons reaches its saturation value of /spl sim/30%. The SSPD NEP at 2.0 K is as low as 5/spl times/10/sup -21/ W/Hz/sup -1/2/. Our nanostructured SSPDs, operated at 2.0 K, significantly outperform their semiconducting counterparts, and, together with their GHz counting rate and picosecond timing jitter, they are devices-of-choice for practical quantum key distribution systems and free-space (even interplanetary) quantum optical communications.
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Il'in, K. S., Currie, M., Lindgren, M., Milostnaya, I. I., Verevkin, A. A., Gol'tsman, G. N., et al. (1999). Quantum efficiency and time-domain response of superconducting NbN hot-electron photodetectors. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 9(2), 3338–3341.
Abstract: We report our studies on the response of ultrathin superconducting NbN hot-electron photodetectors. We have measured the photoresponse of few-nm-thick, micron-size structures, which consisted of single and multiple microbridges, to radiation from the continuous-wave semiconductor laser and the femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser with the wavelength of 790 nm and 400 nm, respectively. The maximum responsivity was observed near the film's superconducting transition with the device optimally current-biased in the resistive state. The responsivity of the detector, normalized to its illuminated area and the coupling factor, was 220 A/W(3/spl times/10/sup 4/ V/W), which corresponded to a quantum efficiency of 340. The responsivity was wavelength independent from the far infrared to the ultraviolet range, and was at least two orders of magnitude higher than comparable semiconductor optical detectors. The time constant of the photoresponse signal was 45 ps, when was measured at 2.15 K in the resistive (switched) state using a cryogenic electro-optical sampling technique with subpicosecond resolution. The obtained results agree very well with our calculations performed using a two-temperature model of the electron heating in thin superconducting films.
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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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Vachtomin, Y. B., Antipov, S. V., Maslennikov, S. N., Smirnov, K. V., Polyakov, S. L., Zhang, W., et al. (2006). Quasioptical hot electron bolometer mixers based on thin NBN films for terahertz region. In Proc. 16th Int. Crimean Microwave and Telecommunication Technology (Vol. 2, pp. 688–689).
Abstract: Presented in this paper are the performances of HEB mixers based on 2-3.5 nm thick NbN films integrated with log-periodic spiral antenna. Double side-band receiver noise temperature values are 1300 K and 3100 K at 2.5 THz and at 3.8 THz, respectively. Mixer gain bandwidth is 5.2 GHz. Local oscillator power is 1-3 muW for mixers with different active area
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Yazoubov, P., Kroug, M., Merkel, H., Kollberg, E., Gol'tsman, G., Lipatov, A., et al. (1998). Quasioptical NbN phonon-cooled hot electron bolometric mixers with low optimal local oscillator power. In Proc. 9th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 131–140).
Abstract: In this paper, the noise perform.ance of NIN based phonon-cooled Hot Electron Bolometric (HEB) quasioptical mixers is investigated in the 0.55-1.1 THz frequency range. The best results of the DSB noise temperature are: 500 K at 640 GHz, 600 K at 750 GHz, 850 K at 910 GHz and 1250 K at 1.1 THz. The water vapor in the signal path causes a significant contribution to the measured noise temperature around 1.1 THz. The required LO power is typically about 60 nW. The frequency response of the spiral antenna+lens system is measured using a Fourier Transform Spectrometer with the HEB operating in a detector mode.
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Svechnikov, S., Verevkin, A., Voronov, B., Menschikov, E., Gershenzon, E., & Gol'tsman, G. (1998). Quasioptical phonon-cooled NbN hot electron bolometer mixers at 0.5-1.1 THz. In Proc. 9th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 45–51).
Abstract: The noise performance of a receiver incorporating spiral antenna coupled NbN phonon-cooled superconducting hot electron bolometric mixer is measured from 450 GHz to 1200 GHz. The mixer element is thin (thickness nm) NbN 1.5 pm wide and 0.2 i.um long film fabricated by lift-off e-beam lithography on high-resistive silicon substrate. The noise of the receiver temperature is 1000 K at 800-900 GHz, 1200 K at 950 GHz, and 1600 K at 1.08 THz. The required (absorbed) local-oscillator power is —20 nW.
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Yagoubov, P., Gol'tsman, G., Voronov, B., Svechnikov, S., Cherednichenko, S., Gershenzon, E., et al. (1996). Quasioptical phonon-cooled NbN hot-electron bolometer mixer at THz frequencies. In Proc. 7th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 303–317).
Abstract: In our experiments we tested phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometer (HEB) quasioptical mixer based on spiral antenna designed for 0.5-1.2 THz frequency band and fabricated on sapphire, Si-coated sapphire and high resistivity silicon substrates. HEB devices were produced from thin superconducting NbN film 3.5-6 nm thick with the critical temperature of about 11-12 K. For these devices we achieved the receiver noise temperature T R (DSB) = 3000 K in the 500-700 GHz frequency range and an IF bandwidth of 3-4 GHz. Prelimanary measurements at frequencies 1-1.2 THz resulted the receiver noise temperature about 9000 K (DSB).
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Gousev, Y. P., Gol'tsman, G. N., Karasik, B. S., Gershenzon, E. M., Semenov, A. D., Barowski, H. S., et al. (1996). Quasioptical superconducting hot electron bolometer for submillmeter waves. Int. J. of Infrared and Millimeter Waves, 17(2), 317–331.
Abstract: We report on a superconducting hot electron bolometer coupled to radiation via a broadband antenna. The bolometer, a structured NbN film, was patterned on a thin dielectric membrane between terminals of a gold slotline antenna. We investigated the response to submillimeter radiation (wave-lengths ∼ 0.1 mm to 0.7 mm) in the fundamental Gaussian mode. We found that the directivity of the antenna was constant within a factor of 2.5 through the whole experimental range. The noise equivalent power of the bolometer at 119 µm was ∼ 3 · 10−13 W/Hz1/2; a time constant of ∼ 160 ps was estimated.
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Verevkin, A., Slysz, W., Pearlman, A., Zhang, J., Sobolewski, R., Okunev, O., et al. (2003). Real-time GHz-rate counting of infrared photons using nanostructured NbN superconducting detectors. In CLEO/QELS (CThM8). Optical Society of America.
Abstract: We demonstrate that our ultrathin, nanometer-width NbN superconducting single-photon detectors are capable of above 1-GHz-frequency, real-time counting of near-infrared photons. The measured system jitter of the detector is below 15 ps.
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