Abstract: The electron heating effect in superconducting films is becoming very attractive for the development of THz range mixers because of the absence of frequency limitations inherent in the bolometric mechanism. However, the evidence for the spectral dependence of the position of optimal operating point has been found recently for NbN thin film devices 1.2 • The effect is presumably attributed to the variation in the absorption of radiation depending on the frequency. Since the resistive state is not spatially uniform the coupling efficiency of the mixer device with radiation can be different for frequencies larger than Zeilh and those smaller than 2Alh (d is the effective superconducting gap in the resistive state). To study the effect more thoroughly we have investigated the noise temperature of quasioptical NbN mixer device with broken hue tapered slot antenna in the frequency range 200-700 GHz. The device consists of several (5-10) parallel strips 1 jim wide and 6-7 tun thick made from NbN film on Si0 2 -Si 3 N 4 -Si membrane. The strips are connected with the gold contacts of the slot-line antenna which serves both as bias and IF leads. We used backward wave oscillators as LO sources and a standard hot/cold load technique for noise temperature measurements. The frequency dependence of noise temperature is mainly determined by two factors: frequency properties of the antenna and frequency dependence of the NbN film impedance. To separate both factors we monitored the frequency dependence of the device responsivity in the detector mode at a higher temperature within the superconducting transition where the impedance of NbN film is close to its normal resistance. In this case the impedance of the device itself is frequency independent. The experimental results will be reported at the Symposium. 1. G. Gollsman, S. Jacobsson, H. EkstrOm, B. Karasik, E. Kollberg, and E. Gershenzon, “Slot-line tapered antenna with NbN hot electron mixer for 300-360 GHz operation,” Proc of the 5th Int. Symp. on Space Terahertz Technology, pp. 209-213a, May 10-12,1994. 2. B.S. Karasik, G.N. Gol i tsman, B.M. Voronov, S.I. Svechnikov, E.M. Gershenzon, H. Ekstrom, S. Jacobsson, E. Kollberg, and K.S. Yngvesson, “Hot electron quasioptical NbN superconducting mixer,” presented at the ASC94, submitted to IEEE Trans. on Appl. Superconductivity.

Abstract: The voltage photoresponse of structured current biased YBCO films on different substrates to 20-ps laser pulses of 0.63- mu m and 1.54- mu m wavelengths and to continuously modulated radiation of 2-mm wavelength is measured to temperatures around T_c. Fast picosecond decay of the response to pulsed radiation is followed by slow exponential relaxation with a nanosecond characteristic time depending on the substrate material and film dimensions. The slow component does not depend on wavelength and is attributed to the bolometric effect, while the magnitude of the fast component associated with nonequilibrium response rises with wavelength. More than an order-of-magnitude increase of the nonequilibrium response is seen from near-infrared to millimeter-wave range. This dependence plausibly reflects the low efficiency of multiplication of photoexcited electrons in YBaCuO compared to conventional superconductors.

Abstract: We interpret the experimental observation of a frequency-dependence of superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers by taking into account the non-uniform absorption of the terahertz radiation on the superconducting HEB microbridge. The radiation absorption is assumed to be proportional to the local surface resistance of the HEB microbridge, which is computed using the Mattis-Bardeen theory. With this assumption the dc and mixing characteristics of a superconducting niobium-nitride (NbN) HEB device have been modeled at frequencies below and above the equilibrium gap frequency of the NbN film.

Abstract: Epitaxial laser deposited YBa2Cu3O7−δ films of ∼50 nm thickness were patterned into detectors consisting of ten parallel 1 μm wide strips in order to study nonequilibrium and bolometric effects. Typically, the patterned samples had critical temperatures around 86 K, transition widths around 2 K and critical current densities above 1×106A/cm2 at 77 K. Pulsed laser measurements at 0.8 μm wavelength (17 ps full width at half maximum) showed a ∼30 ps response, attributed to electron heating, followed by a slower bolometric decay. Amplitude modulation in the band fmod=100 kHz–10 GHz of a laser with wavelength λ=0.8 μm showed two different thermal relaxations in the photoresponse. Phonon escape from the film (∼3 ns) is the limiting process, followed by heat diffusion in the substrate. Similar relaxations were also seen for λ=10.6 μm. The photoresponse measurements were made with the film in the resistive state and extended into the normal state. These states were created by supercritical bias currents. Measurements between 75 and 95 K (i.e., from below to above Tc) showed that the photoresponse was proportional to dR/dT for fmod=1 MHz and 4 GHz. The fast response is limited by the electron‐phonon scattering time, estimated to 1.8 ps from experimental data. The responsivity both at 0.8 and 10.6 μm wavelength was ∼1.2 V/W at fmod=1 GHz and the noise equivalent power was calculated to 1.5×10−9 WHz−1/2 for the fast response.

Abstract: Picosecond nonequilibrium and slow bolometric responses to infrared radiation from a patterned high-T c superconducting (HTS) film in resistive and normal states deposited onto LaAlO3, NdGaO3, and MgO substrates were investigated using both pulse and modulation techniques. The response time of 35 ps to a laser pulse of 17 ps FWHM has been observed. The intrinsic response time of the fast process is expected to be about a few picoseconds. The modulation technique, being free from the disadvantages of pulse methods (poor sensitivity, limited dynamic range), makes the detailed study of a number of relaxation processes possible. Besides the nonequilibrium response, two kinds of bolometric processes, namely phonon transport through the film-substrate interface and phonon thermal diffusion in a substrate, manifest themselves in certain frequency dependences.