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Lindgren M, Currie M, Zeng W-S, Sobolewski R, Cherednichenko S, Voronov B, et al. Picosecond response of a superconducting hot-electron NbN photodetector. Appl Supercond. 1998;6(7-9):423–8.
Abstract: The ps optical response of ultrathin NbN photodetectors has been studied by electro-optic sampling. The detectors were fabricated by patterning ultrathin (3.5 nm thick) NbN films deposited on sapphire by reactive magnetron sputtering into either a 5×10 μm2 microbridge or 25 1 μm wide, 5 μm long strips connected in parallel. Both structures were placed at the center of a 4 mm long coplanar waveguide covered with Ti/Au. The photoresponse was studied at temperatures ranging from 2.15 K to 10 K, with the samples biased in the resistive (switched) state and illuminated with 100 fs wide laser pulses at 395 nm wavelength. At T=2.15 K, we obtained an approximately 100 ps wide transient, which corresponds to a NbN detector response time of 45 ps. The photoresponse can be attributed to the nonequilibrium electron heating effect, where the incident radiation increases the temperature of the electron subsystem, while the phonons act as the heat sink. The high-speed response of NbN devices makes them an excellent choice for an optoelectronic interface for superconducting digital circuits, as well as mixers for the terahertz regime. The multiple-strip detector showed a linear dependence on input optical power and a responsivity =3.9 V/W.
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Gousev YP, Semenov AD, Goghidze IG, Pechen EV, Varlashkin AV, Gol'tsman GN, et al. Current dependent noise in a YBa2Cu3O7-δ hot-electron bolometer. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 1997;7(2):3556–9.
Abstract: We investigated the output noise of a YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO) superconducting hot-electron bolometer (HEB) in a large frequency range (10 kHz to 8 GHz); the bolometer either consisted of a structured 50 nm thick YBCO film on LaAlO/sub 3/ or a 30 nm thick film on a MgO substrate. We found that flicker noise dominated at low frequencies (below 1 MHz), while at higher frequencies Johnson noise and a current dependent noise were the main noise sources.
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Semenov AD, Gousev YP, Renk KF, Voronov BM, Gol'tsman GN, Gershenzon EM, et al. Noise characteristics of a NbN hot-electron mixer at 2.5 THz. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 1997;7(2):3572–5.
Abstract: The noise temperature of a NbN phonon cooled hot-electron mixer has been measured at a frequency of 2.5 THz for various operating conditions. We obtained for optimal operation a double sideband mixer noise temperature of /spl ap/14000 K and a system conversion loss of /spl ap/23 dB at intermediate frequencies up to 1 GHz. The dependences of the mixer noise temperature on the bias voltage, local oscillator power, and intermediate frequency were consistent with the phenomenological description based on the effective temperature approximation.
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Svechnikov SI, Okunev OV, Yagoubov PA, Gol'tsman GN, Voronov BM, Cherednichenko SI, et al. 2.5 THz NbN hot electron mixer with integrated tapered slot antenna. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 1997;7(2):3548–51.
Abstract: A Hot Electron Bolometer (HEB) mixer for 2.5 THz utilizing a NbN thin film device, integrated with a Broken Linearly Tapered Slot Antenna (BLTSA), has been fabricated and is presently being tested. The NbN HEB device and the antenna were fabricated on a SiO2membrane. A 0.5 micrometer thick SiO2layer was grown by rf magnetron reactive sputtering on a GaAs wafer. The HEB device (phonon-cooled type) was produced as several parallel strips, 1 micrometer wide, from an ultrathin NbN film 4-7 nm thick, that was deposited onto the SiO2layer by dc magnetron reactive sputtering. The BLTSA was photoetched in a multilayer Ti-Au metallization. In order to strengthen the membrane, the front-side of the wafer was coated with a 5 micrometer thick polyimide layer just before the membrane formation. The last operation was anisotropic etching of the GaAs in a mixture of HNO3and H2O2.
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Zorin M, Milostnaya I, Gol'tsman GN, Gershenzon EM. Fast NbN superconducting switch controlled by optical radiation. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 1997;7(2):3734–7.
Abstract: The switching time and the optical control power of the NbN superconducting switch have been measured. The device is based on the ultrathin film 5-8 nm thick patterned as a structure of several narrow parallel strips (/spl sim/1 /spl mu/m wide) connected to wide current leads. The current-voltage characteristic of the switch at temperature 4.2 K demonstrated a hysteresis due to DC current self-heating. We studied the superconducting-to-resistive state transition induced by both optical and bias-current excitations. The optical pulse duration was /spl sim/20 ps and the rise time of the current step was determined to be less than 50 ps. The optical pulse was delivered to the switch by the semiconductor laser through an optical fiber. We found that the measured switching time is less than the duration of the optical excitation. The threshold optical power density does not exceed 3/spl middot/10/sup 3/ W/cm/sup 2/. The proposed device can be used in the fiber input of LTS rapid single flux quantum circuits.
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Svechnikov S, Gol'tsman G, Voronov B, Yagoubov P, Cherednichenko S, Gershenzon E, et al. Spiral antenna NbN hot-electron bolometer mixer at submm frequencies. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 1997;7(2):3395–8.
Abstract: We have studied the phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometer (HEB) as a quasioptical mixer based on a spiral antenna designed for the 0.3-1 THz frequency band and fabricated on sapphire and high resistivity silicon substrates. HEB devices were produced from superconducting 3.5-5 nm thick NbN films with a critical temperature 10-12 K and a critical current density of approximately 10/sup 7/ A/cm/sup 2/ at 4.2 K. For these devices we reached a DSB receiver noise temperature below 1500 K, a total conversion loss of L/sub t/=16 dB in the 500-700 GHz frequency range, an IF bandwidth of 3-4 GHz and an optimal LO absorbed power of /spl sime/4 /spl mu/W. We experimentally analyzed various contributions to the conversion loss and obtained an RF coupling factor of about 5 dB, internal mixer loss of 10 dB and IF mismatch of 1 dB.
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Semenov AD, Heusinger MA, Renk KF, Menschikov E, Sergeev AV, Elant'ev AI, et al. Influence of phonon trapping on the performance of NbN kinetic inductance detectors. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 1997;7(2):3083–6.
Abstract: Voltage and microwave photoresponse of NbN thin films to modulated and pulsed optical radiation reveals, far below the superconducting transition, a response time consistent with the lifetime of nonequilibrium quasiparticles. We show that even in 5 nm thick films at 4.2 K the phonon trapping is significant resulting in a quasiparticle lifetime of a few nanoseconds that is an order of magnitude larger than the recombination time. Values and temperature dependence of the quasiparticle lifetime obey the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory and are in quantitative agreement with the electron-phonon relaxation rate determined from the resistive response near the superconducting transition. We discuss a positive effect of the phonon trapping on the performance of kinetic inductance detectors.
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Kawamura JH, Tong C-YE, Blundell R, Cosmo Papa D, Hunter TR, Gol'tsman G, et al. An 800 GHz NbN phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometer mixer receiver. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 1999;9(2):3753–6.
Abstract: We describe a heterodyne receiver developed for astronomical applications to operate in the 350 /spl mu/m atmospheric window. The waveguide receiver employs a superconductive NbN phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometer mixer. The double sideband receiver noise temperature closely follows 1 kGHz/sup -1/ across 780-870 GHz, with the intermediate frequency centered at 1.4 GHz. The conversion loss is about 15 dB. The receiver was installed for operation at the University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy Submillimeter Telescope facility. The instrument was successfully used to conduct test observations of a number of celestial sources in a number of astronomically important spectral lines.
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Karpov A, Blondel J, Voss M, Gundlach KH. A three photon noise SIS heterodyne receiver at submillimeter wavelength. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond.. 1999;9(2):4456–9.
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Schwaab GW, Sirmain G, Schubert J, Hubers H-W, Gol'tsman G, Cherednichenko S, et al. Investigation of NbN phonon-cooled HEB mixers at 2.5 THz. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 1999;9(2):4233–6.
Abstract: The development of superconducting hot electron bolometric (HEB) mixers has been a big step forward in the direction of quantum noise limited mixer performance at THz frequencies. Such mixers are crucial for the upcoming generation of airborne and spaceborne THz heterodyne receivers. In this paper we report on new results on a phonon-cooled NbN HEB mixer using e-beam lithography. The superconducting film is 3 nm thick. The mixer is 0.2 μm long and 1.5 μm wide and it is integrated in a spiral antenna on a Si substrate. The device is quasi-optically coupled through a Si lens and a dielectric beam combiner to the radiation of an optically pumped FIR ring gas laser cavity. The performance of the mixer at different THz frequencies from 0.69 to 2.55 THz with an emphasis on 2.52 THz is demonstrated. At 2.52 THz minimum DSB noise temperatures of 4200 K have been achieved at an IF of 1.5 GHz and a bandwidth of 40 MHz with the mixer mounted in a cryostat and a 0.8 m long signal path in air.
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