Abstract: We present a new class of ultrafast single-photon detectors for counting both visible and infrared photons. The detection mechanism is based on photon-induced hotspot formation, which forces the supercurrent redistribution and leads to the appearance of a transient resistive barrier across an ultrathin, submicrometer-width, superconducting stripe. The devices were fabricated from 3.5-nm- and 10-nm-thick NbN films, patterned into <200-nm-wide stripes in the 4 /spl times/ 4-/spl mu/m/sup 2/ or 10 /spl times/ 10-/spl mu/m/sup 2/ meander-type geometry, and operated at 4.2 K, well below the NbN critical temperature (T/sub c/=10-11 K). Continuous-wave and pulsed-laser optical sources in the 400-nm-to 3500-nm-wavelength range were used to determine the detector performance in the photon-counting mode. Experimental quantum efficiency was found to exponentially depend on the photon wavelength, and for our best, 3.5-nm-thick, 100-/spl mu/m/sup 2/-area devices varied from >10% for 405-nm radiation to 3.5% for 1550-nm photons. The detector response time and jitter were /spl sim/100 ps and 35 ps, respectively, and were acquisition system limited. The dark counts were below 0.01 per second at optimal biasing. In terms of the counting rate, jitter, and dark counts, the NbN single-photon detectors significantly outperform their semiconductor counterparts. Already-identified applications for our devices range from noncontact testing of semiconductor CMOS VLSI circuits to free-space quantum cryptography and communications.

Abstract: We analyze the ultimate performance of a superconducting quantum detector in order to meet requirements for applications in near-infrared astronomy and X-ray spectroscopy. The detector exploits a combined detection mechanism, in which avalanche quasiparticle multiplication and the supercurrent jointly produce a voltage response to a single absorbed photon via successive formation of a photon-induced and a current-induced normal hotspot in a narrow superconducting strip. The response time of the detector should increase with the photon energy providing energy resolution. Depending on the superconducting material and operation conditions, the cut-off wavelength for the single-photon detection regime varies from infrared waves to visible light. We simulated the performance of the background-limited infrared direct detector and X-ray photon counter utilizing the above mechanism. Low dark count rate and intrinsic low-frequency cut-off allow for realizing a background limited noise equivalent power of 10−20 W Hz−1/2 for a far-infrared direct detector exposed to 4-K background radiation. At low temperatures, the intrinsic response time of the counter is rather determined by diffusion of nonequilibrium electrons than by the rate of energy transfer to phonons. Therefore, thermal fluctuations do not hamper energy resolution of the X-ray photon counter that should be better than 10−3 for 6-keV photons. Comparison of new data obtained with a Nb based detector and previously reported results on NbN quantum detectors support our estimates of ultimate detector performance.

Abstract: In this paper, we report about the development, fabrication, and characterization of a balanced waveguide hot electron bolometer (HEB) receiver for the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment telescope covering the frequency band of 1.25–1.39 THz. The receiver uses a quadrature balanced scheme and two HEB mixers, fabricated from 4- to 5-nm-thick NbN film deposited on crystalline quartz substrate with an MgO buffer layer in between. We employed a novel micromachining method to produce all-metal waveguide parts at submicrometer accuracy (the main-mode waveguide dimensions are 90×180 μm). We present details on the mixer design and measurement results, including receiver noise performance, stability and “first-light” at the telescope site. The receiver yields a double-sideband noise temperature averaged over the RF band below 1200 K, and outstanding stability with a spectroscopic Allan time more than 200 s.

Abstract: We present the results of a stabilization scheme for terahertz receivers based on NbN hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers that uses microwave radiation with a frequency much lower than the gap frequency of NbN to compensate for mixer current fluctuations. A feedback control loop, which actively controls the power level of the injected microwave radiation, has successfully been implemented to stabilize the operating point of the HEB mixer. This allows us to increase the receiver Allan time to 10 s and also improve the temperature resolution of the receiver by about 30% in the total power mode of operation.