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Author Sych, Denis; Shcherbatenko, Michael; Elezov, Michael; Goltsman, Gregory N.
Title Towards the improvement of the heterodyne receiver sensitivity beyond the quantum noise limit Type Conference Article
Year 2018 Publication Proc. 29th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. Abbreviated Journal Proc. 29th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol.
Volume Issue Pages 245-247
Keywords standard quantum limit, sub-SQL quantum receiver, Kennedy receiver, SSPD, SNSPD
Abstract Noise reduction in heterodyne receivers of the terahertz range is an important issue for astronomical applications. Quantum fluctuations, also known as shot noise, prohibit errorless measurements of the amplitude of electro-magnetic waves, and introduce the so-called standard quantum limit (SQL) on the minimum error of the heterodyne measurements. Nowadays, the sensitivity of modern heterodyne receivers approaches the SQL, and the growing demand for the improvement of measurement precision stimulates a number of both theoretical and experimental efforts to design novel measurement techniques aimed at overcoming the SQL. Here we demonstrate the first steps towards the practical implementation of a sub-SQL quantum receiver. As the principal resources, it requires a highly efficient single-photon counting detector and an interferometer-based scheme for mixing the signal with a low-power local oscillator. We describe the idea of such receiver and its main components.
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Call Number Serial 1314
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Author Il’in, K. S.; Milostnaya, I. I.; Verevkin, A. A.; Gol’tsman, G. N.; Gershenzon, E. M.; Sobolewski, R.
Title Ultimate quantum efficiency of a superconducting hot-electron photodetector Type Journal Article
Year 1998 Publication Appl. Phys. Lett. Abbreviated Journal Appl. Phys. Lett.
Volume 73 Issue 26 Pages 3938-3940
Keywords NbN SSPD, SNSPD
Abstract The quantum efficiency and current and voltage responsivities of fast hot-electron photodetectors, fabricated from superconducting NbN thin films and biased in the resistive state, have been shown to reach values of 340, 220 A/W, and 4×104 V/W,

respectively, for infrared radiation with a wavelength of 0.79 μm. The characteristics of the photodetectors are presented within the general model, based on relaxation processes in the nonequilibrium electron heating of a superconducting thin film. The observed, very high efficiency and sensitivity of the superconductor absorbing the photon are explained by the high multiplication rate of quasiparticles during the avalanche breaking of Cooper pairs.
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ISSN 0003-6951 ISBN Medium
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1579
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Author Gol’tsman, G. N.; Okunev, O.; Chulkova, G.; Lipatov, A.; Semenov, A.; Smirnov, K.; Voronov, B.; Dzardanov, A.; Williams, C.; Sobolewski, R.
Title Picosecond superconducting single-photon optical detector Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Appl. Phys. Lett. Abbreviated Journal Appl. Phys. Lett.
Volume 79 Issue 6 Pages 705-707
Keywords NbN SSPD, SNSPD
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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ISSN 0003-6951 ISBN Medium
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1543
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Author Kerman, A. J.; Dauler, E. A.; Keicher, W. E.; Yang, J. K. W.; Berggren, K. K.; Gol’tsman, G.; Voronov, B.
Title Kinetic-inductance-limited reset time of superconducting nanowire photon counters Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Appl. Phys. Lett. Abbreviated Journal Appl. Phys. Lett.
Volume 88 Issue 11 Pages 111116 (1 to 3)
Keywords NbN SSPD, SNSPD
Abstract We investigate the recovery of superconducting NbN-nanowire photon counters after detection of an optical pulse at a wavelength of 1550nm, and present a model that quantitatively accounts for our observations. The reset time is found to be limited by the large kinetic inductance of these nanowires, which forces a tradeoff between counting rate and either detection efficiency or active area. Devices of usable size and high detection efficiency are found to have reset times orders of magnitude longer than their intrinsic photoresponse time.

The authors acknowledge D. Oates and W. Oliver (MIT Lincoln Laboratory), S.W. Nam, A. Miller, and R. Hadfield (NIST) and R. Sobolewski, A. Pearlman, and A. Verevkin (University of Rochester) for helpful discussions and technical assistance. This work made use of MIT’s shared scanning-electron-beam-lithography facility in the Research Laboratory of Electronics. This work is sponsored by the United States Air Force under Air Force Contract No. FA8721-05-C-0002. Opinions, interpretations, recommendations and conclusions are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the United States Government.
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Call Number Serial 1453
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Author Słysz, W.; Węgrzecki, M.; Bar, J.; Grabiec, P.; Górska, M.; Zwiller, V.; Latta, C.; Bohi, P.; Milostnaya, I.; Minaeva, O.; Antipov, A.; Okunev, O.; Korneev, A.; Smirnov, K.; Voronov, B.; Kaurova, N.; Gol’tsman, G.; Pearlman, A.; Cross, A.; Komissarov, I.; Verevkin, A.; Sobolewski, R.
Title Fiber-coupled single-photon detectors based on NbN superconducting nanostructures for practical quantum cryptography and photon-correlation studies Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Appl. Phys. Lett. Abbreviated Journal Appl. Phys. Lett.
Volume 88 Issue 26 Pages 261113 (1 to 3)
Keywords SSPD, SNSPD
Abstract We have fabricated and tested a two-channel single-photon detector system based on two fiber-coupled superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs). Our best device reached the system quantum efficiency of 0.3% in the 1540-nm telecommunication wavelength with a fiber-to-detector coupling factor of about 30%. The photoresponse consisted of 2.5-ns-wide voltage pulses with a rise time of 250ps and timing jitter below 40ps. The overall system response time, measured as a second-order, photon cross-correlation function, was below 400ps. Our SSPDs operate at 4.2K inside a liquid-helium Dewar, but their optical fiber inputs and electrical outputs are at room temperature. Our two-channel detector system should find applications in practical quantum cryptography and in antibunching-type quantum correlation measurements.

The authors would like to thank Dr. Marc Currie for his assistance in early time-resolved photoresponse measurements and Professor Atac Imamoglu for his support. This work was supported by the Polish Ministry of Science under Project No. 3 T11B 052 26 (Warsaw), RFBR 03-02-17697 and INTAS 03-51-4145 grants (Moscow), CRDF Grant No. RE2-2531-MO-03 (Moscow), RE2-2529-MO-03 (Moscow and Rochester), and US AFOSR FA9550-04-1-0123 (Rochester). Additional funding was provided by the grants from the MIT Lincoln Laboratory and BBN Technologies Corp.
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ISSN 0003-6951 ISBN Medium
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1449
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