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Cherednichenko S, Drakinskiy V, Baubert J, Lecomte B, Dauplay F, Krieg J-M, et al. 2.5 THz multipixel heterodyne receiver based on NbN HEB mixers [abstract]. In: Proc. 18th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol.; 2007. 112.
Abstract: A 16 pixel heterodyne receiver for 2.5 THz has been developed based on NbN superconducting hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers. The receiver uses a quasioptical RF coupling approach where HEB mixers are integrated into double dipole antennas on 1.5μm thick Si3N4 / SiO2 membranes. Spherical mirrors (one per pixel) and backshort distance from the antenna have been used to design the output mixer beam profile. The camera design allows all 16 pixel IF readout in parallel. Measurements of the mixers sensitivity and the input RF band are presented, and compared against calculations.
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Semenov A, Richter H, Smirnov A, Günther B, Hübers H-W, Il’in K, et al. Development of HEB mixers for GREAT and for security screening [abstract]. In: Proc. 18th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol.; 2007. 184.
Abstract: We report the study on the quasioptical coupling efficiency and the gain bandwidth of NbN hot-electron bolometer mixers developed for the 4.7 THz channel of the German receiver for Astronomy at THz-frequencies (GREAT) and for security screening at subterahertz frequencies. Radiation coupling efficiency and directive properties of integrated lens antennas with log-spiral, log-periodic and double-slot planar feeds coupled to a hot-electron bolometer were experimentally studied at frequencies from 1 THz to 6 THz and compared with simulations based on the method of moments and the physical-optics ray tracing. For all studied antennas the modeled spectral dependence of the coupling efficiency fits to the experimental data obtained with both Fourier transform spectroscopy and noise temperature measurements only if the complex impedance of the bolometer is explicitly taken into account. Our experimental data did not indicate any noticeable contribution of the quantum noise to the system noise temperature. The experimentally observed deviation of the beam pattern from the model prediction increases with frequency and is most likely due to a non- ideality of the presently used lenses. Study of the intermediate frequency mixer gain at local oscillator (LO) frequencies between 2.5 THz and 0.3 THz showed an increase of the gain bandwidth at low LO frequencies that was understood as the contribution of the direct interaction of magnetic vortices with the radiation field. We have found that the non- homogeneous hot-spot model more adequately describes variation of the intermediate frequency bandwidth with the applied local oscillator power than any of uniform mixer models. The state-of-the-day performance of the GREAT 4.7-THz channel and the 0.8-THz security scanner will be presented.
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Ryabchun S, Tong C-yu E, Blundell R, Kimberk R, Gol’tsman G. Stabilisation of a terahertz hot-electron bolometer mixer with microwave feedback control. In: Proc. 18th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol.; 2007. p. 193–8.
Abstract: We report on implementation of microwave feedback control loop to stabilise the performance of an HEB mixer receiver. It is shown that the receiver sensitivity increases by a factor of 4 over a 16-minute scan, and the corresponding Allan time increases up to 10 seconds, as opposed to an open loop value of 1 second. Our experiments also demonstrate that the receiver sensitivity is limited by the intermediate frequency chain.
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Bell M, Sergeev A, Mitin V, Bird J, Verevkin A, Gol’tsman G. One-dimensional resistive states in quasi-two-dimensional superconductors: Experiment and theory. Phys Rev B. 2007;76(9):094521 (1 to 5).
Abstract: We investigate competition between one- and two-dimensional topological excitations—phase slips and vortices—in the formation of resistive states in quasi-two-dimensional superconductors in a wide temperature range below the mean-field transition temperature TC0. The widths w=100nm of our ultrathin NbN samples are substantially larger than the Ginzburg-Landau coherence length ξ=4nm, and the fluctuation resistivity above TC0 has a two-dimensional character. However, our data show that the resistivity below TC0 is produced by one-dimensional excitations—thermally activated phase slip strips (PSSs) overlapping the sample cross section. We also determine the scaling phase diagram, which shows that even in wider samples the PSS contribution dominates over vortices in a substantial region of current and/or temperature variations. Measuring the resistivity within 7 orders of magnitude, we find that the quantum phase slips can only be essential below this level.
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Gao JR, Hajenius M, Tichelaar FD, Klapwijk TM, Voronov B, Grishin E, et al. Monocrystalline NbN nanofilms on a 3C-SiC∕Si substrate. Appl Phys Lett. 2007;91(6):062504 (1 to 3).
Abstract: The authors have realized NbN (100) nanofilms on a 3C-SiC (100)/Si(100) substrate by dc reactive magnetron sputtering at 800°C. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) is used to characterize the films, showing a monocrystalline structure and confirming epitaxial growth on the 3C-SiC layer. A film ranging in thickness from 3.4to4.1nm shows a superconducting transition temperature of 11.8K, which is the highest reported for NbN films of comparable thickness. The NbN nano-films on 3C-SiC offer a promising alternative to improve terahertz detectors. For comparison, NbN nanofilms grown directly on Si substrates are also studied by HRTEM.
The authors acknowledge S. V. Svetchnikov at National Centre for HRTEM at Delft, who prepared the specimens for HRTEM inspections. This work was supported by the EU through RadioNet and INTAS.
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Ryabchun S, Tong C-YE, Blundell R, Kimberk R, Gol'tsman G. Study of the effect of microwave radiation on the operation of HEB mixers in the terahertz frequency range. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 2007;17(2):391–4.
Abstract: We have investigated the effect of injecting microwave radiation, with a frequency much lower than that corresponding to the energy gap of the superconductor, on the performance of the hot-electron bolometer mixer incorporated into a THz heterodyne receiver. More specifically, we show that exposing the mixer to microwave radiation does not cause a significant rise of the receiver noise temperature and fall of the mixer conversion gain so long as the microwave power is a small fraction of local oscillator power. The injection of a small, but controlled amount of microwave power therefore enables active compensation of local oscillator power and coupling fluctuations which can significantly degrade the gain stability of hot electron bolometer mixer receivers.
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Jiang L, Antipov SV, Voronov BM, Gol'tsman GN, Zhang W, Li N, et al. Characterization of the performance of a quasi-optical NbN superconducting HEB mixer. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 2007;17(2):395–8.
Abstract: In this paper we focus mainly on the investigation of the performance of a quasi-optical (planar log-spiral antenna) phonon-cooled NbN superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer, which is cryogenically cooled by a close-cycled 4-K cryocooler, at 500 and 850 GHz frequency bands. The mixer's noise performance, stability of IF output power, and local oscillator (LO) power requirement are characterized for three NbN superconducting HEB devices of different sizes. The transmission characteristics of Mylar and Zitex films with incidence waves of an elliptical polarization are also examined by measuring the mixer's noise temperature. The lowest receiver noise temperatures (with no corrections) of 750 and 1100 K are measured at 500 and 850 GHz, respectively. Experimental results also demonstrate that the bigger the HEB device is, the higher the stability of IF output power becomes.
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Zhang W, Li N, Jiang L, Miao W, Lin Z-H, Yao Q-J, et al. Noise behaviour of a THz superconducting hot-electron bolometer mixer. Chinese Phys Lett. 2007;24(6):1778–81.
Abstract: A quasi-optical superconducting NbN hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixer is measured in the frequency range of 0.5–2.5 THz for understanding of the frequency dependence of noise temperature of THz coherent detectors. It has been found that noise temperature increasing with frequency is mainly due to the coupling loss between the quasi-optical planar antenna and the superconducting HEB bridge when taking account of non-uniform distribution of high-frequency current. With the coupling loss corrected, the superconducting HEB mixer demonstrates a noise temperature nearly independent of frequency.
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Slysz W, Wegrzecki M, Bar J, Grabiec P, Gorska M, Rieger E, et al. Fiber-coupled NbN superconducting single-photon detectors for quantum correlation measurements. In: Dusek M, Hillery MS, Schleich WP, Prochazka I, Migdall AL, Pauchard A, editors. Proc. SPIE. Vol 6583. Spie; 2007. 65830J (1 to 11).
Abstract: We have fabricated fiber-coupled superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs), designed for quantum-correlationtype experiments. The SSPDs are nanostructured ( 100-nm wide and 4-nm thick) NbN superconducting meandering stripes, operated in the 2 to 4.2 K temperature range, and known for ultrafast and efficient detection of visible to nearinfrared photons with almost negligible dark counts. Our latest devices are pigtailed structures with coupling between the SSPD structure and a single-mode optical fiber achieved using a micromechanical photoresist ring placed directly over the meander. The above arrangement withstands repetitive thermal cycling between liquid helium and room temperature, and we can reach the coupling efficiency of up to 33%. The system quantum efficiency, measured as the ratio of the photons counted by SSPD to the total number of photons coupled into the fiber, in our early devices was found to be around 0.3 % and 1% for 1.55 &mgr;m and 0.9 &mgr;m photon wavelengths, respectively. The photon counting rate exceeded 250 MHz. The receiver with two SSPDs, each individually biased, was placed inside a transport, 60-liter liquid helium Dewar, assuring uninterrupted operation for over 2 months. Since the receiver’s optical and electrical connections are at room temperature, the set-up is suitable for any applications, where single-photon counting capability and fast count rates are desired. In our case, it was implemented for photon correlation experiments. The receiver response time, measured as a second-order photon cross-correlation function, was found to be below 400 ps, with timing jitter of less than 40 ps.
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Słysz W, Wegrzecki M, Bar J, Grabiec P, Górska M, Zwiller V, et al. Fibre-coupled, single photon detector based on NbN superconducting nanostructures for quantum communications. J Modern Opt. 2007;54(2-3):315–26.
Abstract: We present a novel, two-channel, single photon receiver based on two fibre-coupled, NbN, superconducting, single photon detectors (SSPDs). The SSPDs are nanostructured superconducting meanders and are known for ultrafast and efficient detection of visible-to-infrared photons. Coupling between the NbN detector and optical fibre was achieved using a micromechanical photoresist ring placed directly over the SSPD, holding the fibre in place. With this arrangement, we obtained coupling efficiencies up to ∼30%. Our experimental results showed that the best receiver had a near-infrared system quantum efficiency of 0.33% at 4.2 K. The quantum efficiency increased exponentially with the photon energy increase, reaching a few percent level for visible-light photons. The photoresponse pulses of our devices were limited by the meander high kinetic inductance and had the rise and fall times of approximately 250 ps and 5 ns, respectively. The receiver's timing jitter was in the 37 to 58 ps range, approximately 2 to 3 times larger than in our older free-space-coupled SSPDs. We stipulate that this timing jitter is in part due to optical fibre properties. Besides quantum communications, the two-detector arrangement should also find applications in quantum correlation experiments.
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