Smirnov, K. V., Vachtomin, Y. B., Ozhegov, R. V., Pentin, I. V., Slivinskaya, E. V., Korneev, A. A., et al. (2008). Fiber coupled single photon receivers based on superconducting detectors for quantum communications and quantum cryptography. In P. Tománek, D. Senderáková, & M. Hrabovský (Eds.), Proc. SPIE (Vol. 7138, 713827 (1 to 6)). Spie.
Abstract: At present superconducting detectors become increasingly attractive for various practical applications. In this paper we present results on the depelopment of fiber coupled receiver systems for the registration of IR single photons, optimized for telecommunication and quantum-cryptography. These receiver systems were developed on the basis of superconducting single photon detectors (SSPD) of VIS and IR wavelength ranges. The core of the SSPD is a narrow ( 100 nm) and long ( 0,5 mm) strip in the form of a meander which is patterned from a 4-nm-thick NbN film (TC=10-11 K, jC= 5-7•106 A/cm2); the sensitive area dimensions are 10×10 μm2. The main problem to be solved while the receiver system development was optical coupling of a single-mode fiber (9 microns in diameter) with the SSPD sensitive area. Characteristics of the developed system at the optical input are as follows: quantum efficiency >10 % (at 1.3 μm), >4 % (at 1.55 μm); dark counts rate ≤1 s-1; duration of voltage pulse ≤5 ns; jitter ≤40 ps. The receiver systems have either one or two identical channels (for the case of carrying out correlation measurements) and are made as an insert in a helium storage Dewar.
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Trifonov, A., Tong, C. - Y. E., Lobanov, Y., Kaurova, N., Blundell, R., & Goltsman, G. (2016). Gap frequency and photon absorption in a hot electron bolometer. In Proc. 27th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (121).
Abstract: The superconducting energy gap is a crucial parameter of a superconductor when used in mixing applications. In the case of the SIS mixer, the mixing process is efficient for frequencies below the energy gap, whereas, in the case of the HEB mixer, the mixing process is most efficient at frequencies above the gap, where photon absorption takes place more readily. We have investigated the photon absorption phenomenon around the gap frequency of HEB mixers based on NbN films deposited on silicon membranes. Apart from studying the pumped I-V curves of HEB devices, we have also probed them with microwave radiation, as previously described [1]. At frequencies far below the gap frequency, the pumped I-V curves show abrupt switching between the superconducting and resistive states. For the NbN HEB mixers we tested, which have critical temperatures of ~9 K, this is true for frequencies below about 400 GHz. As the pump frequency is increased beyond 400 GHz, the resistive state extends towards zero bias and at some point a small region of negative differential resistance appears close to zero bias. In this region, the microwave probe reveals that the device impedance is changing randomly with time. As the pump frequency is further increased, this random impedance change develops into relaxation oscillations, which can be observed by the demodulation of the reflected microwave probe. Initially, these oscillations take the form of several frequencies grouped together under an envelope. As we approach the gap frequency, the multiple frequency relaxation oscillations coalesce into a single frequency of a few MHz. The resultant square-wave nature of the oscillation is a clear indication that the device is in a bi-stable state, switching between the superconducting and normal state. Above the gap frequency, it is possible to obtain a pumped I-V curve with no negative differential resistance above a threshold pumping level. Below this pumping level, the device demonstrates bi-stability, and regular relaxation oscillation at a few MHz is observed as a function of pump power. The threshold pumping level is clearly related to the amount of power absorbed by the device and its phonon cooling. From the above experiment, we can derive the gap frequency of the NbN film, which is 585 GHz for our 6 μm thin silicon membrane-based device. We also confirm that the HEB mixer is not an efficient photon absorber for radiation below the gap frequency. 1. A. Trifonov et al., “Probing the stability of HEB mixers with microwave injection”, IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., vol. 25, no. 3, June 2015.
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Gershenzon, E. M., Goltsman, G., Orlova, S., Ptitsina, N., & Gurvich, Y. (1971). Germanium hot-electron narrow-band detector. Sov. Radio Engineering And Electronic Physics, 16(8), 1346.
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Fedorov, G., Gayduchenko, I., Titova, N., Moskotin, M., Obraztsova, E., Rybin, M., et al. (2018). Graphene-based lateral Schottky diodes for detecting terahertz radiation. In F. Berghmans, & A. G. Mignani (Eds.), Proc. Optical Sensing and Detection V (Vol. 10680, pp. 30–39). Spie.
Abstract: Demand for efficient terahertz radiation detectors resulted in intensive study of the carbon nanostructures as possible solution for that problem. In this work we investigate the response to sub-terahertz radiation of graphene field effect transistors of two configurations. The devices of the first type are based on single layer CVD graphene with asymmetric source and drain (vanadium and gold) contacts and operate as lateral Schottky diodes (LSD). The devices of the second type are made in so-called Dyakonov-Shur configuration in which the radiation is coupled through a spiral antenna to source and top electrodes. We show that at 300 K the LSD detector exhibit the room-temperature responsivity from R = 15 V/W at f= 129 GHz to R = 3 V/W at f = 450 GHz. The DS detector responsivity is markedly lower (2 V/W) and practically frequency independent in the investigated range. We find that at low temperatures (77K) the graphene lateral Schottky diodes responsivity rises with the increasing frequency of the incident sub-THz radiation. We interpret this result as a manifestation of a plasmonic effect in the devices with the relatively long plasmonic wavelengths. The obtained data allows for determination of the most promising directions of development of the technology of nanocarbon structures for the detection of THz radiation.
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Matyushkin, Y. E., Gayduchenko, I. A., Moskotin, M. V., Goltsman, G. N., Fedorov, G. E., Rybin, M. G., et al. (2018). Graphene-layer and graphene-nanoribbon FETs as THz detectors. In J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. (Vol. 1124, 051054).
Abstract: We report on detection of sub-THz radiation (129-430 GHz) using graphene based asymmetric field-effect transistor (FET) structures with different channel geometry: monolayer graphene, graphene nanoribbons. In all devices types we observed the similar trends of response on sub-THz radiation. The response fell with increasing frequency at room temperature, but increased with increasing frequency at 77 K. Our calculations show that the change in the trend of the frequency dependence at 77 K is associated with the appearance of plasma waves in the graphene channel. Unusual properties of p-n junctions in graphene are highlighted using devices of special geometry.
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Kawamura, J., Hunter, T. R., Tong, C. Y. E., Blundell, R., Papa, D. C., Patt, F., et al. (2002). Ground-based terahertz CO spectroscopy towards Orion. A&A, 394(1), 271–274.
Abstract: Using a superconductive hot-electron bolometer heterodyne receiver on the 10-m Heinrich Hertz Telescope on Mount Graham, Arizona, we have obtained velocity-resolved 1.037 THz CO () spectra toward several positions along the Orion Molecular Cloud (OMC-1) ridge. We confirm the general results of prior observations of high-J CO lines that show that the high temperature, , high density molecular gas, , is quite extended, found along a ~ region centered on BN/KL. However, our observations have significantly improved angular resolution, and with a beam size of we are able to spatially and kinematically discriminate the emission originating in the extended quiescent ridge from the very strong and broadened emission originating in the compact molecular outflow. The ridge emission very close to the BN/KL region appears to originate from two distinct clouds along the line of sight with and ≈ . The former component dominates the emission to the south of BN/KL and the latter to the north, with a turnover point coincident with or near BN/KL. Our evidence precludes a simple rotation of the inner ridge and lends support to a model in which there are multiple molecular clouds along the line of sight towards the Orion ridge.
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Lobanov, Y. V., Shcherbatenko, M. L., Semenov, A. V., Kovalyuk, V. V., Korneev, A. A., Goltsman, G. N., et al. (2017). Heterodyne spectroscopy with superconducting single-photon detector. In EPJ Web Conf. (Vol. 132, 01005).
Abstract: We demonstrate successful operation of a Superconducting Single Photon Detector (SSPD) as the core element in a heterodyne receiver. Irradiating the SSPD by both a local oscillator power and signal power simultaneously, we observed beat signal at the intermediate frequency of a few MHz. Gain bandwidth was found to coincide with the detector single pulse width, where the latter depends on the detector kinetic inductance, determined by the superconducting nanowire length.
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Minaeva, O., Fraine, A., Korneev, A., Divochiy, A., Goltsman, G., & Sergienko, A. (2012). High resolution optical time-domain reflectometry using superconducting single-photon detectors. In Frontiers in Opt. 2012/Laser Sci. XXVIII (Fw3a.39). Optical Society of America.
Abstract: We discuss the advantages and limitations of single-photon optical time-domain reflectometry with superconducting single-photon detectors. The higher two-point resolution can be achieved due to superior timing performance of SSPDs in comparison with InGaAs APDs.
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Anfertev, V., Vaks, V., Revin, L., Pentin, I., Tretyakov, I., Goltsman, G., et al. (2017). High resolution THz gas spectrometer based on semiconductor and superconductor devices. In EPJ Web Conf. (Vol. 132, 02001 (1 to 2)).
Abstract: The high resolution THz gas spectrometer consists of a synthesizer based on Gunn generator with a semiconductor superlattice frequency multiplier as a radiation source, and an NbN hot electron bolometer in a direct detection mode as a THz radiation receiver was presented. The possibility of application of a quantum cascade laser as a local oscillator for a heterodyne receiver which is based on an NbN hot electron bolometer mixer is shown. The ways for further developing of the THz spectroscopy were outlined.
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Pernice, W., Schuck, C., Minaeva, O., Li, M., Goltsman, G. N., Sergienko, A. V., et al. (2012). High speed and high efficiency travelling wave single-photon detectors embedded in nanophotonic circuits (Vol. 1108.5299). arXiv:1108.5299v2 [physics.optics].
Abstract: Ultrafast, high quantum efficiency single photon detectors are among the most sought-after elements in modern quantum optics and quantum communication. High photon detection efficiency is essential for scalable measurement-based quantum computation, quantum key distribution, and loophole-free Bell experiments. However, imperfect modal matching and finite photon absorption rates have usually limited the maximum attainable detection efficiency of single photon detectors. Here we demonstrate a superconducting nanowire detector atop nanophotonic waveguides which allows us to drastically increase the absorption length for incoming photons. When operating the detectors close to the critical current we achieve high on-chip single photon detection efficiency up to 91% at telecom wavelengths, with uncertainty dictated by the variation of the waveguide photon flux. We also observe remarkably low dark count rates without significant compromise of detection efficiency. Furthermore, our detectors are fully embedded in a scalable silicon photonic circuit and provide ultrashort timing jitter of 18ps. Exploiting this high temporal resolution we demonstrate ballistic photon transport in silicon ring resonators. The direct implementation of such a detector with high quantum efficiency, high detection speed and low jitter time on chip overcomes a major barrier in integrated quantum photonics.
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Minaeva, O., Divochiy, A., Korneev, A., Sergienko, A. V., & Goltsman, G. N. (2009). High speed infrared photon counting with photon number resolving superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs). In CLEO/Europe – EQEC.
Abstract: A review of development and characterization of the nanostructures consisting of several meander sections, all connected in parallel was presented. Such geometry leads to a significant decrease of the kinetic inductance, without a decrease of the SSPD active area. A new type of SSPDs possess the QE of large-active- area devices, but, simultaneously, allows achieving short response times and the GHz-counting rate. This new generation of superconducting detectors has another significant advantage for quantum key distribution, they have a photon number resolving capability and can distinguish more photons.
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Pernice, W., Schuck, C., Li, M., Goltsman, G. N., Sergienko, A. V., & Tang, H. X. (2011). High speed travelling wave single-photon detectors with near-unity quantum efficiency. arXiv, , 1–14.
Abstract: Ultrafast, high quantum efficiency single photon detectors are among the most sought-after elements in modern quantum optics and quantum communication. Close-to-unity photon detection efficiency is essential for scalable measurement-based quantum computation, quantum key distribution, and loophole-free Bell experiments. However, imperfect modal matching and finite photon absorption rates have usually limited the maximum attainable detection efficiency of single photon detectors. Here we demonstrate a superconducting nanowire detector atop nanophotonic waveguides and achieve single photon detection efficiency up to 94% at telecom wavelengths. Our detectors are fully embedded in a scalable, low loss silicon photonic circuit and provide ultrashort timing jitter of 18ps at multi-GHz detection rates. Exploiting this high temporal resolution we demonstrate ballistic photon transport in silicon ring resonators. The direct implementation of such a detector with high quantum efficiency, high detection speed and low jitter time on chip overcomes a major barrier in integrated quantum photonics.
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Pernice, W. H. P., Schuck, C., Minaeva, O., Li, M., Goltsman, G. N., Sergienko, A. V., et al. (2012). High-speed and high-efficiency travelling wave single-photon detectors embedded in nanophotonic circuits. Nat. Commun., 3, 1325 (1 to 10).
Abstract: Ultrafast, high-efficiency single-photon detectors are among the most sought-after elements in modern quantum optics and quantum communication. However, imperfect modal matching and finite photon absorption rates have usually limited their maximum attainable detection efficiency. Here we demonstrate superconducting nanowire detectors atop nanophotonic waveguides, which enable a drastic increase of the absorption length for incoming photons. This allows us to achieve high on-chip single-photon detection efficiency up to 91% at telecom wavelengths, repeatable across several fabricated chips. We also observe remarkably low dark count rates without significant compromise of the on-chip detection efficiency. The detectors are fully embedded in scalable silicon photonic circuits and provide ultrashort timing jitter of 18 ps. Exploiting this high temporal resolution, we demonstrate ballistic photon transport in silicon ring resonators. Our direct implementation of a high-performance single-photon detector on chip overcomes a major barrier in integrated quantum photonics.
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Ekström, H., Kroug, M., Belitsky, V., Kollberg, E., Olsson, H., Goltsman, G., et al. (1996). Hot electron mixers for THz applications. In E. J. Rolfe, & G. Pilbratt (Eds.), Proc. 30th ESLAB (pp. 207–210).
Abstract: We have measured the noise performance of 35 A thin NbN HEB devices integrated with spiral antennas on antireflection coated silicon substrate lenses at 620 GHz. From the noise measurements we have determined a total conversion gain of the receiver of—16 dB, and an intrinsic conversion of about-10 dB. The IF bandwidth of the 35 A thick NbN devices is at least 3 GHz. The DSB receiver noise temperature is less than 1450 K. Without mismatch losses, which is possible to obtain with a shorter device, and with reduced loss from the beamsplitter, we expect to achieve a DSB receiver noise temperature of less ‘than 700 K.
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Kollberg, E. L., Gershenzon, E., Goltsman, G., & Yngvesson, K. S. (1992). Hot electron mixers, the potential competition. In Proc. ESA Symp. on Photon Detectors for Space Instrumentation (pp. 201–206).
Abstract: There is an urgent need in radio astronomy for low noise heterodyne receivers for frequencies above about 500 GHz. It is not certain that mixers based on superconducting quasiparticle tunnelling (SIS mixers) may turn out to be the answer to this need. In order to try to find an alternative way for realizing low noise heterodyne receivers for submillimeter waves, so called hot electron bolometric effects for mixing are now being investigated. Two basically different approaches are tried, one based on semiconductors and one on superconductors. Both methods are briefly discussed in this overview paper.
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