|   | 
Details
   web
Records
Author Verevkin, A. A.; Pearlman, A.; Slysz, W.; Zhang, J.; Sobolewski, R.; Chulkova, G.; Okunev, O.; Kouminov, P.; Drakinskij, V.; Smirnov, K.; Kaurova, N.; Voronov, B.; Gol’tsman, G.; Currie, M.
Title Ultrafast superconducting single-photon detectors for infrared wavelength quantum communications Type Conference Article
Year (up) 2003 Publication Proc. SPIE Abbreviated Journal Proc. SPIE
Volume 5105 Issue Pages 160-170
Keywords NbN SSPD, SNSPD, applications, single-photon detector, quantum cryptography, quantum communications, superconducting devices
Abstract We have developed a new class of superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs) for ultrafast counting of infrared (IR) photons for secure quantum communications. The devices are operated on the quantum detection mechanism, based on the photon-induced hotspot formation and subsequent appearance of a transient resistive barrier across an ultrathin and submicron-wide superconducting stripe. The detectors are fabricated from 3.5-nm-thick NbN films and they operate at 4.2 K inside a closed-cycle refrigerator or liquid helium cryostat. Various continuous and pulsed laser sources have been used in our experiments, enabling us to determine the detector experimental quantum efficiency (QE) in the photon-counting mode, response time, time jitter, and dark counts. Our 3.5-nm-thick SSPDs reached QE above 15% for visible light photons and 5% at 1.3 – 1.5 μm infrared range. The measured real-time counting rate was above 2 GHz and was limited by the read-out electronics (intrinsic response time is <30 ps). The measured jitter was <18 ps, and the dark counting rate was <0.01 per second. The measured noise equivalent power (NEP) is 2 x 10-18 W/Hz1/2 at λ = 1.3 μm. In near-infrared range, in terms of the counting rate, jitter, dark counts, and overall sensitivity, the NbN SSPDs significantly outperform their semiconductor counterparts. An ultrafast quantum cryptography communication technology based on SSPDs is proposed and discussed.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher SPIE Place of Publication Editor Donkor, E.; Pirich, A.R.; Brandt, H.E.
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference Quantum Information and Computation
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1514
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Baubert, J.; Salez, M.; Delorme, Y.; Pons, P.; Goltsman, G.; Merkel, H.; Leconte, B.
Title Membrane-based HEB mixer for THz applications Type Conference Article
Year (up) 2003 Publication Proc. SPIE Abbreviated Journal Proc. SPIE
Volume 5116 Issue Pages 551-562
Keywords membrane NbN HEB mixers, heterodyne receiver, stress-less membrane, coupling efficiency, submillimeter-waves frequency, low-cost space applications
Abstract We report in this paper a new concept for 2.7 THz superconducting Niobium nitride (NbN) Hot-Electron Bolometer mixer (HEB). The membrane process was developped for space telecommnunication applications a few years ago and the HEB mixer concept is now considered as the best choice for low-noise submillimeter-wave frequency heterodyne receivers. The idea is then to join these two technologies. The novel fabrication scheme is to fabricate a NbN HEB mixer on a 1 μm thick stress-less Si3N4/SiO2 membrane. This seems to present numerous improvements concerning : use at higher RF frequencies, power coupling efficiency, HEB mixer sensitivity, noise temperature, and space applications. This work is to be continued within the framework of an ESA TRP project, a 2.7 THz heterodyne camera with numerous applications including a SOFIA airborne receiver. This paper presents the whole fabrication process, the validation tests and preliminary results. Membrane-based HEB mixer theory is currently being investigated and further tests such as heterodyne and Fourier transform spectrometry measurement are planed shortly.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher SPIE Place of Publication Editor Chiao, J.-C.; Varadan, V.K.; Cané, C.
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference Smart Sensors, Actuators, and MEMS
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1520
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Cherednichenko, S.; Khosropanah, P.; Adam, A.; Merkel, H. F.; Kollberg, E. L.; Loudkov, D.; Gol'tsman, G. N.; Voronov, B. M.; Richter, H.; Huebers, H.-W.
Title 1.4- to 1.7-THz NbN hot-electron bolometer mixer for the Herschel space observatory Type Conference Article
Year (up) 2003 Publication Proc. SPIE Abbreviated Journal Proc. SPIE
Volume 4855 Issue Pages 361-370
Keywords NbN HEB mixers
Abstract NbN hot- electron bolometer mixers have reached the level of 10hv/k in terms of the input noise temperature with the noise bandwidth of 4-6 GHz from subMM band up to 2.5 THz. In this paper we discuss the major characteristics of this kind of receiver, i.e. the gain and the noise bandwidth, the noise temperature in a wide RF band, bias regimes and optimisation of RF coupling to the quasioptical mixer. We present the status of the development of the mixer for Band 6 Low for Herschel Telescope.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher SPIE Place of Publication Editor Phillips, T.G.; Zmuidzinas, J.
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference Millimeter and Submillimeter Detectors for Astronomy
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1521
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Yorke, Harold W.; Paine, Christopher G.; Bradford, Charles M.; Mark Dragovan; Nash, Al E.; Dooley, Jennifer A.; Lawrence, Charles R.
Title Thermal design trades for SAFIR architecture concepts Type Conference Article
Year (up) 2004 Publication Proc. SPIE Abbreviated Journal
Volume 5487 Issue Pages 1617-1624
Keywords
Abstract
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number RPLAB @ s @ sun_shield_SAFIR_SPIE_2004 Serial 340
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Alexandre Karpov; David Miller; Rice, Frank R.; Stern, Jeffrey A.; Bruce Bumble; LeDuc, Henry G.; Jonas Zmuidzinas
Title Low-noise SIS mixer for far-infrared radio astronomy Type Conference Article
Year (up) 2004 Publication Proc. SPIE Abbreviated Journal
Volume 5498 Issue Pages 616-621
Keywords
Abstract
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Glasgow, Scotland, UK Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number RPLAB @ s @ nt_SIS_550at1p2THz Serial 353
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Klapwijk, T. M.; Barends, R.; Gao, J. R.; Hajenius, M.; Baselmans, J. J. A.
Title Improved superconducting hot-electron bolometer devices for the THz range Type Conference Article
Year (up) 2004 Publication Proc. SPIE Abbreviated Journal Proc. SPIE
Volume 5498 Issue Pages 129-139
Keywords HEB mixer distributed model, numerical model
Abstract Improved and reproducible heterodyne mixing (noise temperatures of 950 K at 2.5 THz) has been realized with NbN based hot-electron superconducting devices with low contact resistances. A distributed temperature numerical model of the NbN bridge, based on a local electron and a phonon temperature, has been used to understand the physical conditions during the mixing process. We find that the mixing is predominantly due to the exponential rise of the local resistivity as a function of electron temperature.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Invited talk, Recommended by Klapwijk Approved no
Call Number Serial 912
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Hubers, H.-W.; Semenov, A.; Richter, H.; Schwarz, M.; Gunther, B.; Smirnov, K.; Gol’tsman, G.; Voronov, B.
Title Heterodyne receiver for 3-5 THz with hot-electron bolometer mixer Type Conference Article
Year (up) 2004 Publication Proc. SPIE Abbreviated Journal Proc. SPIE
Volume 5498 Issue Pages 579-586
Keywords NbN HEB mixers
Abstract Heterodyne receivers for applications in astronomy and planetary research need quantum limited sensitivity. In instruments which are currently build for SOFIA and Herschel superconducting hot electron bolometers (HEB) will be used to achieve this goal at frequencies above 1.4 THz. The local oscillator and the mixer are the most critical components for a heterodyne receiver operating at 3-5 THz. The design and performance of an optically pumped THz gas laser optimized for this frequency band will be presented. In order to optimize the performance for this frequency hot electron bolometer mixers with different in-plane dimensions and logarithmic-spiral feed antennas have been investigated. Their noise temperatures and beam patterns were measured. Above 3 THz the best performance was achieved with a superconducting bridge of 2.0 x 0.2 μm2 incorporated in a logarithmic spiral antenna. The DSB noise temperatures were 2700 K, 4700 K and 6400 K at 3.1 THz, 4.3 THz and 5.2 THz, respectively. The results demonstrate that the NbN HEB is very well suited as a mixer for THz heterodyne receivers up to at least 5 THz.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher SPIE Place of Publication Editor Zmuidzinas, J.; Holland, W.S.; Withington, S.
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference Millimeter and Submillimeter Detectors for Astronomy II
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1483
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Baselmans, J. J. A.; Hajenius, M.; Gao, J.; de Korte, P.; Klapwijk, T. M.; Voronov, B.; Gol’tsman, G.
Title Doubling of sensitivity and bandwidth in phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometer mixers Type Conference Article
Year (up) 2004 Publication Proc. SPIE Abbreviated Journal Proc. SPIE
Volume 5498 Issue Pages 168-176
Keywords Hot electron bolometers, bandwidth, noise temperature, experimental
Abstract NbN hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers are at this moment the best heterodyne detectors for frequencies above 1 THz. However, the fabrication procedure of these devices is such that the quality of the interface between the NbN superconducting film and the contact structure is not under good control. This results in a contact resistance between the NbN bolometer and the contact pad. We compare identical bolometers, with different NbN – contact pad interfaces, coupled with a spiral antenna. We find that cleaning the NbN interface and adding a thin additional superconductor prior to the gold contact deposition improves the noise temperature and the bandwidth of the HEB mixers with more than a factor of 2. We obtain a DSB noise temperature of 950 K at 2.5 THz and a Gain bandwidth of 5-6 GHz. For use in real receiver systems we design small volume (0.15x1 micron) HEB mixers with a twin slot antenna. We find that these mixers combine good sensitivity (900 K at 1.6 THz) with low LO power requirement, which is 160 – 240 nW at the Si lens of the mixer. This value is larger than expected from the isothermal technique and the known losses in the lens by a factor of 3-3.5.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher SPIE Place of Publication Editor Zmuidzinas, J.; Holland, W.S.; Withington, S.
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference Millimeter and Submillimeter Detectors for Astronomy II
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1744
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Gol'tsman, Gregory N.; Vachtomin, Yuriy B.; Antipov, Sergey V.; Finkel, Matvey I.; Maslennikov, Sergey N.; Smirnov, Konstantin V.; Polyakov, Stanislav L.; Svechnikov, Sergey I.; Kaurova, Natalia S.; Grishina, Elisaveta V.; Voronov, Boris M.
Title NbN phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometer mixer for terahertz heterodyne receivers Type Conference Article
Year (up) 2005 Publication Proc. SPIE Abbreviated Journal Proc. SPIE
Volume 5727 Issue Pages 95-106
Keywords NbN HEB mixers
Abstract We present the results of our studies of NbN phonon-cooled HEB mixers at terahertz frequencies. The mixers were fabricated from NbN film deposited on a high-resistivity Si substrate with an MgO buffer layer. The mixer element was integrated with a log-periodic spiral antenna. The noise temperature measurements were performed at 2.5 THz and at 3.8 THz local oscillator frequencies for the 3 x 0.2 μm2 active area devices. The best uncorrected receiver noise temperatures found for these frequencies are 1300 K and 3100 K, respectively. A water vapour discharge laser was used as the LO source. The largest gain bandwidth of 5.2 GHz was achieved for a mixer based on 2 nm thick NbN film deposited on MgO layer over Si substrate. The gain bandwidth of the mixer based on 3.5 nm NbN film deposited on Si with MgO is 4.2 GHz and the noise bandwidth for the same device amounts to 5 GHz. We also present the results of our research into decrease of the direct detection contribution to the measured Y-factor and a possible error of noise temperature calculation. The use of a square nickel cell mesh as an IR-filter enabled us to avoid the effect of direct detection and measure apparent value of the noise temperature which was 16% less than that obtained using conventional black polyethylene IR-filter.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference Terahertz and Gigahertz Electronics and Photonics IV
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 378
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Milostnaya, I.; Korneev, A.; Minaeva, O.; Rubtsova, I.; Slepneva, S.; Seleznev, V.; Chulkova, G.; Okunev, O.; Smirnov, K.; Voronov, B.; Gol’tsman, G.; Slysz, W.; Kitaygorsky, J.; Cross, A.; Pearlman, A.; Sobolewski, R.
Title Superconducting nanostructured detectors capable of single photon counting of mid-infrared optical radiation Type Conference Article
Year (up) 2005 Publication Proc. SPIE Abbreviated Journal Proc. SPIE
Volume 5957 Issue Pages 59570A (1 to 9)
Keywords SSPD, SNSPD, single-photon detectors, superconductors, superconducting
Abstract We report on our progress in research and development of ultrafast superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs) based on ultrathin NbN nanostructures. Our SSPDs were made of the 4-nm-thick NbN films with Tc 11 K, patterned as meander-shaped, 100-nm-wide strips, and covering an area of 10×10 μm2. The detectors exploit a combined detection mechanism, where upon a single-photon absorption, a hotspot of excited electrons and redistribution of the biasing supercurrent, jointly produce a picosecond voltage transient signal across the superconducting nanostripe. The SSPDs are typically operated at 4.2 K, but their sensitivity in the infrared radiation range can be significantly improved by lowering the operating temperature from 4.2 K to 2 K. When operated at 2 K, the SSPD quantum efficiency (QE) for visible light photons reaches 30-40%, which is the saturation value limited by the optical absorption of our 4-nm-thick NbN film. With the wavelength increase of the incident photons,the QE of SSPDs decreases significantly, but even at the wavelength of 6 μm, the detector is able to count single photons and exhibits QE of about 10-2 %. The dark (false) count rate at 2 K is as low as 2x10-4 s,-1 which makes our detector essentially a background-limited sensor. The very low dark-count rate results in a noise equivalent power (NEP) below 10-18 WHz-1/2 for the mid-infrared range (6 μm). Further improvement of the SSPD performance in the mid-infrared range can be obtained by substituting NbN for another, lower-Tc materials with a narrow superconducting gap and low quasiparticles diffusivity. The use of such superconductors should shift the cutoff wavelength below 10 μm.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher SPIE Place of Publication Editor Rogalski, A.; Dereniak, E.L.; Sizov, F.F.
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference Infrared Photoelectronics
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1458
Permanent link to this record