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Meledin D, Pavolotsky A, Desmaris V, Lapkin I, Risacher C, Perez V, et al. A 1.3-THz balanced waveguide HEB mixer for the APEX telescope. IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Techn.. 2009;57(1):89–98.
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.
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Ryabchun S, Tong C-YE, Blundell R, Gol'tsman G. Stabilization scheme for hot-electron bolometer receivers using microwave radiation. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 2009;19(1):14–9.
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.
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Lieberzeit PA, Dickert FL. Chemosensors in environmental monitoring: challenges in ruggedness and selectivity. Anal Bioanal Chem. 2009;393(2):467–72.
Abstract: Environmental analysis is a potential key application for chemical sensors owing to their inherent ability to detect analytes on-line and in real time in distributed systems. Operating a chemosensor in a natural environment poses substantial challenges in terms of ruggedness, long-term stability and calibration. This article highlights current trends of achieving both the necessary selectivity and ruggedness: one way is deploying sensor arrays consisting of robust broadband sensors and extracting information via chemometrics. If using only a single sensor is desired, molecularly imprinted polymers offer a straightforward way for designing artificial recognition materials. Molecularly imprinted polymers can be utilized in real-life environments, such as water and air, aiming at detecting analytes ranging from small molecules to entire cells.
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Parrott EPJ, Zeitler JA, Fris<cc><152>c<cc><152>ic<cc><81> T, Pepper M, Jones W, Day GM, et al. Testing the sensitivity of terahertz spectroscopy to changes in molecular and supramolecular structure: a study of structurally similar cocrystals. Crystal Growth & Design. 2009;9(3):1452–60.
Abstract: Terahertz time-domain-spectroscopy (THz-TDS) has emerged as a versatile spectroscopic technique, and an alternative to powder X-ray diffraction in the characterization of molecular crystals. We tested the ability of terahertz spectroscopy to distinguish between chiral and racemic hydrogen-bonded cocrystals that are similar in molecular and supramolecular structure. Terahertz spectroscopy readily distinguished between the isostructural cocrystals of theophylline with chiral and racemic forms of malic acid which are almost identical in molecular structure and supramolecular architecture. Similarly, the cocrystals of theophylline with chiral and racemic forms of tartaric acid, which are similar at the molecular level but dissimilar in crystal packing, were distinguished unequivocally. The investigation of the same cocrystals using X-ray powder diffraction and Raman spectroscopy suggested that THz-TDS is comparable in sensitivity to diffraction methods and more sensitive than Raman spectroscopy to changes in cocrystal architecture. The differences in spectra acquired by THz-TDS could be further enhanced by cooling the samples to 109 K.
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Ryabchun SA, Tretyakov IV, Pentin IV, Kaurova NS, Seleznev VA, Voronov BM, et al. Low-noise wide-band hot-electron bolometer mixer based on an NbN film. Radiophys. Quant. Electron.. 2009;52(8):576–82.
Abstract: We develop and study a hot-electron bolometer mixer made of a two-layer NbN–Au film in situ deposited on a silicon substrate. The double-sideband noise temperature of the mixer is 750 K at a frequency of 2.5 THz. The conversion efficiency measurements show that at the superconducting transition temperature, the intermediate-frequency bandwidth amounts to about 6.5 GHz for a mixer 0.112 μm long. These record-breaking characteristics are attributed to the improved contacts between a sensitive element and a helical antenna and are reached due to using the in situ deposition of NbN and Au layers at certain stages of the process.
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Рябчун СА, Третьяков ИВ, Пентин ИВ, Каурова НС, Селезнев ВА, Воронов БМ, et al. Малошумящий широкополосный терагерцовый смеситель на эффекте электронного разогрева в плёнке NbN. Известия высших учебных заведений. Радиофизика. 2009;52(8):641–8.
Abstract: Разработан и исследован смеситель на горячих электронах, изготовленный из двуслойной плёнки NbN-Au, осаждённой на кремневую подложку in situ. Двухполосная шумовая температура устройства составила 750 К на частоте 2.5 ТГц. Измерения эффективности преобразования для смесителя длиной 0.112 мкм вблизи температуры сверхпроводящего перехода показали полосу промежуточных частот около 6.5 ГГц. Эти результаты являются рекордными и были получены за счёт улучшения контактов между чувствительным элементом и спиральной антенной при замене технологического маршрута с нанесением слоёв NbN и Au в отдельных процессах на технологический процесс, в котором данные слои наносятся in situ без нарушения вакуума.
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Stucki D, Barreiro C, Fasel S, Gautier J-D, Gay O, Gisin N, et al. Continuous high speed coherent one-way quantum key distribution. Opt Express. 2009;17(16):13326–34.
Abstract: Quantum key distribution (QKD) is the first commercial quantum technology operating at the level of single quanta and is a leading light for quantum-enabled photonic technologies. However, controlling these quantum optical systems in real world environments presents significant challenges. For the first time, we have brought together three key concepts for future QKD systems: a simple high-speed protocol; high performance detection; and integration both, at the component level and for standard fibre network connectivity. The QKD system is capable of continuous and autonomous operation, generating secret keys in real time. Laboratory and field tests were performed and comparisons made with robust InGaAs avalanche photodiodes and superconducting detectors. We report the first real world implementation of a fully functional QKD system over a 43dB-loss (150km) transmission line in the Swisscom fibre optic network where we obtained average real-time distribution rates over 3 hours of 2.5bps.
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Goltsman G, Korneev A, Divochiy A, Minaeva O, Tarkhov M, Kaurova N, et al. Ultrafast superconducting single-photon detector. J Modern Opt. 2009;56(15):1670–80.
Abstract: The state-of-the-art of the NbN nanowire superconducting single-photon detector technology (SSPD) is presented. The SSPDs exhibit excellent performance at 2 K temperature: 30% quantum efficiency from visible to infrared, negligible dark count rate, single-photon sensitivity up to 5.6 µm. The recent achievements in the development of GHz counting rate devices with photon-number resolving capability is presented.
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Stucki D, Walenta N, Vannel F, Thew RT, Gisin N, Zbinden H, et al. High rate long-distance quantum key distribution over 250 km of ultra low loss fibres. New J. Phys.. 2009;11(7):075003.
Abstract: We present a fully automated quantum key distribution prototype running at 625 MHz clock rate. Taking advantage of ultra low loss fibres and low-noise superconducting detectors, we can distribute 6,000 secret bits per second over 100 km and 15 bits per second over 250km.
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Rabanus D, Graf UU, Philipp M, Ricken O, Stutzki J, Vowinkel B, et al. Phase locking of a 1.5 terahertz quantum cascade laser and use as a local oscillator in a heterodyne HEB receiver. Optics Express. 2009;17(3):1159–68.
Abstract: We demonstrate for the first time the closure of an electronic phase lock loop for a continuous–wave quantum cascade laser (QCL) at 1.5 THz. The QCL is operated in a closed cycle cryo cooler. We achieved a frequency stability of better than 100 Hz, limited by the resolution bandwidth of the spectrum analyser. The PLL electronics make use of the intermediate frequency (IF) obtained from a hot electron bolometer (HEB) which is downconverted to a PLL IF of 125 MHz. The coarse selection of the longitudinal mode and the fine tuning is achieved via the bias voltage of the QCL. Within a QCL cavity mode, the free-running QCL shows frequency fluctuations of about 5 MHz, which the PLL circuit is able to control via the Stark–shift of the QCL gain material. Temperature dependent tuning is shown to be nonlinear, and of the order of -16 MHz/K. Additionally we have used the QCL as local oscillator (LO) to pump an HEB and perform, again for the first time at 1.5 THz, a heterodyne experiment, and obtain a receiver noise temperature of 1741 K.
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