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Shcherbatenko M, Lobanov Y, Kovalyuk V, Korneev A, Gol'tsman GN. Photon counting detector as a mixer with picowatt local oscillator power requirement. In: Proc. 27th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol.; 2016. 110.
Abstract: At the current stage of the heterodyne receiver technology, great attention is paid to the development of detector arrays and matrices comprising many detectors on a single wafer. However, any traditional THz detector (such as SIS, HEB, or Schottky diode) requires quite a noticeable amount of Local Oscillator (LO) power which scales with the matrix size, and the total amount of the LO power needed is much greater than that available from compact and handy solid state sources. Substantial reduction of the LO power requirement may be obtained with a photon-counting detector used as a mixer. This approach, mentioned earlier in [1,2] provides a number of advantages. Thus, sensitivity of such a detector would be at the quantum limit (because of the photon-counting nature of the detector) and just a few LO photons for the mixing would be required leading to a possible breakthrough in the matrix receiver development. In addition, the receiver could be easily tuned from the heterodyne to the direct detection mode without any loss in its sensitivity with the latter limited only by the quantum efficiency of the detector used. We demonstrate such a technique with the use of the Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detector(SNSPD)[3] irradiated by both 1.5 μm LO with a tiny amount of power (from a few picowatts down to femtowatts) facing the detector, and the test signal with a power significantly less than that of the LO. The SNSPD was operated in the current mode and the bias current was slightly below its critical value. Irradiating the detector with either the LO or the signal source produced voltage pulses which are statistically evenly distributed and could be easily counted by a lab counter or oscilloscope. Irradiating the detector by the both lasers simultaneously produced pulses at the frequency f m which is the exact difference between the frequencies at which the two lasers operate. f m could be deduced form either counts statistics integrated over a sufficient time interval or with the help of an RF spectrum analyzer. In addition to the chip SNSPD with normal incidence coupling, we use the detectors with a travelling wave geometry design [4]. In this case a niobium nitride nanowire is placed on the top of a nanophotonic waveguide, thus increasing the efficient interaction length. Integrated device scheme allows us to measure the optical losses with high accuracy. Our approach is fully scalable and, along with a large number of devices integrated on a single chip can be adapted to the mid and far IR ranges. This work was supported in part by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, contract no. 14.B25.31.0007 and by RFBR grant # 16-32-00465. 1. Leaf A. Jiang and Jane X. Luu, ―Heterodyne detection with a weak local oscillator, Applied Optics Vol. 47, Issue 10, pp. 1486-1503 (2008) 2. Matsuo H. ―Requirements on Photon Counting Detectors for Terahertz Interferometry J Low Temp Phys (2012) 167:840–845 3. A. Semenov, G. Gol'tsman, A. Korneev, “Quantum detection by current carrying superconducting film”, Physica C, 352, pp. 349-356 (2001) 4. O. Kahl, S. Ferrari, V. Kovalyuk, G. N. Goltsman, A. Korneev, and W. H. P. Pernice, ―Waveguide integrated superconducting single-photon detectors with high internal quantum efficiency at telecom wavelengths., Sci. Rep., vol. 5, p. 10941, (2015).
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Jukna A, Kitaygorsky J, Pan D, Cross A, Perlman A, Komissarov I, et al. Dynamics of hotspot formation in nanostructured superconducting stripes excited with single photons. Acta Physica Polonica A. 2008;113(3):955–8.
Abstract: Dynamics of a resistive hotspot formation by near-infrared-wavelength single photons in nanowire-type superconducting NbN stripes was investigated. Numerical simulations of ultrafast thermalization of photon-excited nonequilibrium quasiparticles, their multiplication and out-diffusion from a site of the photon absorption demonstrate that 1.55 μm wavelength photons create in an ultrathin, two-dimensional superconducting film a resistive hotspot with the diameter which depends on the photon energy, and the nanowire temperature and biasing conditions. Our hotspot model indicates that under the subcritical current bias of the 2D stripe, the electric field penetrates the superconductor at the hotspot boundary, leading to suppression of the stripe superconducting properties and accelerated development of a voltage transient across the stripe.
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Vorobyov VV, Kazakov AY, Soshenko VV, Korneev AA, Shalaginov MY, Bolshedvorskii SV, et al. Superconducting detector for visible and near-infrared quantum emitters [Invited]. Opt Mater Express. 2017;7(2):513–26.
Abstract: Further development of quantum emitter based communication and sensing applications intrinsically depends on the availability of robust single-photon detectors. Here, we demonstrate a new generation of superconducting single-photon detectors specifically optimized for the 500–1100 nm wavelength range, which overlaps with the emission spectrum of many interesting solid-state atom-like systems, such as nitrogen-vacancy and silicon-vacancy centers in diamond. The fabricated detectors have a wide dynamic range (up to 350 million counts per second), low dark count rate (down to 0.1 counts per second), excellent jitter (62 ps), and the possibility of on-chip integration with a quantum emitter. In addition to performance characterization, we tested the detectors in real experimental conditions involving nanodiamond nitrogen-vacancy emitters enhanced by a hyperbolic metamaterial.
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Komrakova S, Javadzade J, Vorobyov V, Bolshedvorskii S, Soshenko V, Akimov A, et al. CMOS compatible nanoantenna-nanodiamond integration. In: J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. Vol 1410.; 2019. 012180.
Abstract: Here we demonstrate CMOS compatible method to deterministically produce nanoantenna with nanodiamonds systems on example of bull-eye antenna on top of on hyperbolic metamaterials. We study the statistics of the placement of nanodiamonds and measure the fluorescence lifetime and the second-order correlation function of NV-centers inside nanodiamonds.
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Golikov A, Kovalyuk V, An P, Zubkova E, Ferrari S, Pernice W, et al. Silicon nitride nanophotonic circuit for on-chip spontaneous four-wave mixing. In: J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. Vol 1124.; 2018. 051051.
Abstract: Here we present an integrated nanophotonic circuit for on-chip spontaneous four-wave mixing. The fabricated device includes an O-ring resonator, a Bragg noch-filter as well as a nine-channel arrayed waveguide gratings (AWG) operated in the C-band wavelength range (1550 nm). The measured optical losses of the device (-6.8 dB) as well as a high Q-factor (> 1.2×105) shows a good potential for realizing the spontaneous four-wave mixing on the silicon nitride chip.
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Kovalyuk V, Kahl O, Ferrari S, Vetter A, Lewes-Malandrakis G, Nebel C, et al. On-chip single-photon spectrometer for visible and infrared wavelength range. In: J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. Vol 1124.; 2018. 051045.
Abstract: Here we show our latest progress in the field of a single-photon spectrometer for the visible and infrared wavelengths ranges implementation. We consider three different on-chip approaches: a coherent spectrometer with a low power of the heterodyne, a coherent spectrometer with a high power of the heterodyne, and an eight-channel single-photon spectrometer for direct detection. Along with high efficiency, spectrometers show high detection efficiency and temporal resolution through the use of waveguide integrated superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors.
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Komrakova S, Javadzade J, Vorobyov V, Bolshedvorskii S, Soshenko V, Akimov A, et al. On-chip controlled placement of nanodiamonds with a nitrogen-vacancy color centers (NV). In: J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. Vol 1124.; 2018. 051046 (1 to 4).
Abstract: Here we studied the fabrication technique of a kilopixel array of nanodiamonds with a nitrogen-vacancy color centers (NV) on top of the chip and measured the second-order correlation function deep, clearly demonstrated the presence of single-photon sources. The controlled position of nanodiamonds, determined from the measurement of second-order correlation fiction, was realize, as well as the yield of optimized technique equals 12.5% is shown.
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Shcherbatenko M, Lobanov Y, Semenov A, Kovalyuk V, Korneev A, Ozhegov R, et al. Potential of a superconducting photon counter for heterodyne detection at the telecommunication wavelength. Opt Express. 2016;24(26):30474–84.
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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Shcherbatenko M, Elezov M, Manova N, Sedykh K, Korneev A, Korneeva Y, et al. Single-pixel camera with a large-area microstrip superconducting single photon detector on a multimode fiber. Appl Phys Lett. 2021;118(18):181103.
Abstract: High sensitivity imaging at the level of single photons is an invaluable tool in many areas, ranging from microscopy to astronomy. However, development of single-photon sensitive detectors with high spatial resolution is very non-trivial. Here we employ the single-pixel imaging approach and demonstrate a proof-of-principle single-pixel single-photon imaging setup. We overcome the problem of low light gathering efficiency by developing a large-area microstrip superconducting single photon detector coupled to a multi-mode optical fiber interface. We show that the setup operates well in the visible and near infrared spectrum, and is able to capture images at the single-photon level.
We thank Philipp Zolotov and Pavel Morozov for NbN film fabrication, ARC coating, and fiber coupling of the detector. We also thank Swabian Instruments GmbH and Dr. Helmut Fedder personally for the kindly provided experimental equipment (Time Tagger Ultra 8). The work in the part of SNSPD research and development was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research Project No. 18-29-20100. The work in the part of the optical setup and imaging was supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research Project No. 20-32-51004.
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Korneeva Y, Florya I, Vdovichev S, Moshkova M, Simonov N, Kaurova N, et al. Comparison of hot spot formation in nbn and mon thin superconducting films after photon absorption. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 2017;27(4):1–4.
Abstract: In superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPD), the efficiency of local suppression of superconductivity and hotspot formation is controlled by diffusivity and electron-phonon interaction time. Here, we selected a material, 3.6-nm-thick MoNx film, which features diffusivity close to those of NbN traditionally used for SSPD fabrication, but with electron-phonon interaction time an order of magnitude larger. In MoN ∞ detectors, we study the dependence of detection efficiency on bias current, photon energy, and strip width, and compare it with NbN SSPD. We observe nonlinear current-energy dependence in MoNx SSPD and more pronounced plateaus in dependences of detection efficiency on bias current, which we attribute to longer electron-phonon interaction time.
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