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Pearlman A, Cross A, Slysz W, Zhang J, Verevkin A, Currie M, et al. Gigahertz counting rates of NbN single-photon detectors for quantum communications. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 2005;15(2):579–82.
Abstract: We report on the GHz counting rate and jitter of our nanostructured superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs). The devices were patterned in 4-nm-thick and about 100-nm-wide NbN meander stripes and covered a 10-/spl mu/m/spl times/10-/spl mu/m area. We were able to count single photons at both the visible and infrared telecommunication wavelengths at rates of over 2 GHz with a timing jitter of below 18 ps. We also present the model for the origin of the SSPD switching dynamics and jitter, based on the time-delay effect in the phase-slip-center formation mechanism during the detector photoresponse process. With further improvements in our readout electronics, we expect that our SSPDs will reach counting rates of up to 10 GHz. An integrated quantum communications receiver based on two fiber-coupled SSPDs and operating at 1550-nm wavelength is also presented.
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Smirnov K, Korneev A, Minaeva O, Divochiy A, Tarkhov M, Ryabchun S, et al. Ultrathin NbN film superconducting single-photon detector array. In: J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. Vol 61.; 2007. p. 1081–5.
Abstract: We report on the fabrication process of the 2 × 2 superconducting single-photon detector (SSPD) array. The SSPD array is made from ultrathin NbN film and is operated at liquid helium temperatures. Each detector is a nanowire-based structure patterned by electron beam lithography process. The advances in fabrication technology allowed us to produce highly uniform strips and preserve superconducting properties of the unpatterned film. SSPD exhibit up to 30% quantum efficiency in near infrared and up to 1% at 5-μm wavelength. Due to 120 MHz counting rate and 18 ps jitter, the time-domain multiplexing read-out is proposed for large scale SSPD arrays. Single-pixel SSPD has already found a practical application in non-invasive testing of semiconductor very-large scale integrated circuits. The SSPD significantly outperformed traditional single-photon counting avalanche diodes.
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Seleznev VA, Tarkhov MA, Voronov BM, Milostnaya II, Lyakhno VY, Garbuz AS, et al. Deposition and characterization of few-nanometers-thick superconducting Mo-Re films. Supercond Sci Technol. 2008;21(11):115006 (1 to 6).
Abstract: We report on the fabrication and investigation of few-nanometers-thick superconducting molybdenum-rhenium (Mo-Re) films intended for use in nanowire single-photon superconducting detectors (SSPDs). Mo-Re films were deposited on sapphire substrates by DC magnetron sputtering of an Mo(60)-Re(40) alloy target in an atmosphere of argon. The films 2-10 nm thick had critical temperatures (Tc) from 5.6 to 9.7 K. HRTEM (high-resolution transmission electron microscopy) analysis showed that the films had a homogeneous structure. XPS (x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) analysis showed the Mo to Re atom ratio to be 0.575/0.425, oxygen concentration to be 10%, and concentration of other elements to be 1%.
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Kardakova A, Finkel M, Morozov D, Kovalyuk V, An P, Dunscombe C, et al. The electron-phonon relaxation time in thin superconducting titanium nitride films. Appl Phys Lett. 2013;103(25):252602 (1 to 4).
Abstract: We report on the direct measurement of the electron-phonon relaxation time, τeph, in disordered TiN films. Measured values of τeph are from 5.5 ns to 88 ns in the 4.2 to 1.7 K temperature range and consistent with a T−3 temperature dependence. The electronic density of states at the Fermi level N0 is estimated from measured material parameters. The presented results confirm that thin TiN films are promising candidate-materials for ultrasensitive superconducting detectors.
The work was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Contract No. 14.B25.31.0007 and by the RFBR Grant No. 13-02-91159.
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Trifonov A, Tong C-YE, Grimes P, Lobanov Y, Kaurova N, Blundell R, et al. Development of a silicon membrane-based multipixel hot electron bolometer receiver. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 2017;27(4):1–5.
Abstract: We report on the development of a multipixel hot electron bolometer (HEB) receiver fabricated using silicon membrane technology. The receiver comprises a 2 × 2 array of four HEB mixers, fabricated on a single chip. The HEB mixer chip is based on a superconducting NbN thin-film deposited on top of the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. The thicknesses of the device layer and handling layer of the SOI substrate are 20 and 300 μm, respectively. The thickness of the device layer is chosen such that it corresponds to a quarter-wave in silicon at 1.35 THz. The HEB mixer is integrated with a bow-tie antenna structure, in turn designed for coupling to a circular waveguide, fed by a monolithic drilled smooth-walled horn array.
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Trifonov A, Tong C-YE, Grimes P, Lobanov Y, Kaurova N, Blundell R, et al. Development of A Silicon Membrane-based Multi-pixel Hot Electron Bolometer Receiver. In: IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Vol 27.; 2017. 6.
Abstract: We report on the development of a multi-pixel
Hot Electron Bolometer (HEB) receiver fabricated using
silicon membrane technology. The receiver comprises a
2 × 2 array of four HEB mixers, fabricated on a single
chip. The HEB mixer chip is based on a superconducting
NbN thin film deposited on top of the silicon-on-insulator
(SOI) substrate. The thicknesses of the device layer and
handling layer of the SOI substrate are 20 μm and 300 μm
respectively. The thickness of the device layer is chosen
such that it corresponds to a quarter-wave in silicon at
1.35 THz. The HEB mixer is integrated with a bow-tie
antenna structure, in turn designed for coupling to a
circular waveguide,
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Lobanov Y, Shcherbatenko M, Shurakov A, Rodin AV, Klimchuk A, Nadezhdinsky AI, et al. Heterodyne detection at near-infrared wavelengths with a superconducting NbN hot-electron bolometer mixer. Opt. Lett.. 2014;39(6):1429–32.
Abstract: We report on the development of a highly sensitive optical receiver for heterodyne IR spectroscopy at the communication wavelength of 1.5 μm (200 THz) by use of a superconducting hot-electron bolometer. The results are important for the resolution of narrow spectral molecular lines in the near-IR range for the study of astronomical objects, as well as for quantum optical tomography and fiber-optic sensing. Receiver configuration as well as fiber-to-detector light coupling designs are discussed. Light absorption of the superconducting detectors was enhanced by nano-optical antennas, which were coupled to optical fibers. An intermediate frequency (IF) bandwidth of about 3 GHz was found in agreement with measurements at 300 GHz, and a noise figure of about 25 dB was obtained that was only 10 dB above the quantum limit.
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Ren Y, Zhang DX, Zhou KM, Miao W, Zhang W, Shi SC, et al. 10.6 μm heterodyne receiver based on a superconducting hot-electron bolometer mixer and a quantum cascade laser. AIP Advances. 2019;9(7):075307.
Abstract: We report on the development of a heterodyne receiver at mid-infrared wavelength for high-resolution spectroscopy applications. The receiver employs a superconducting NbN hot electron bolometer as a mixer and a room temperature distributed feedback quantum cascade laser operating at 10.6 μm (28.2 THz) as a local oscillator. The stabilization of the heterodyne receiver has been achieved using a feedback loop controlling the output power of the laser. Improved Allan variance times as well as a double sideband receiver noise temperature of 5000 K and a noise bandwidth of 2.8 GHz of the receiver system are demonstrated.
The work is supported in part by the National Key R&D Program of China under Grant 2018YFA0404701, by the CAS program under Grant QYZDJ-SSW-SLH043 and GJJSTD20180003, by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under Grant 11773083, by the “Hundred Talents Program” of the “Pioneer Initiative”, and in part by the CAS Key Lab for Radio Astronomy.
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Zubkova E, An P, Kovalyuk V, Korneev A, Ferrari S, Pernice W, et al. Optimization of contra-directional coupler based on silicon nitride Bragg rib waveguide. In: J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. Vol 1124.; 2018. 051048.
Abstract: We report on the development and fabrication of a contra-directional coupler based on the Bragg waveguide on Si3N4 platform. Transmitted and reflected by the contra-directional coupler spectra were measured. The reflected spectra exactly matches the one notched by the main channel of the coupler. Losses are about 3dB, coupling to the directing branch of the coupler is practically lossless. FWHM of the transmitted (reflected) spectra is 3.46 nm.
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Zubkova E, Golikov A, An P, Kovalyuk V, Korneev A, Ferrari S, et al. CWDM demultiplexer using anti-reflection, contra-directional couplers based on silicon nitride rib waveguide. In: J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. Vol 1410.; 2019. 012179.
Abstract: We report on the development and fabrication of a 9-channel coarse wavelength-division multiplexing for telecommunication wavelengths (1550 nm) using anti-reflection contra-directional couplers, based on silicon nitride (Si3N4) rib waveguide. The transmitted and reflected spectrum in each channel of the demultiplexer were measured. The average full width at half maximum of the transmitted (reflected) spectra is about 3 nm.
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