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Kerman AJ, Yang JKW, Molnar RJ, Dauler EA, Berggren KK. Electrothermal feedback in superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors. Phys Rev B. 2009;79(10):4.
Abstract: We investigate the role of electrothermal feedback in the operation of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs). It is found that the desired mode of operation for SNSPDs is only achieved if this feedback is unstable, which happens naturally through the slow electrical response associated with their relatively large kinetic inductance. If this response is sped up in an effort to increase the device count rate, the electrothermal feedback becomes stable and results in an effect known as latching, where the device is locked in a resistive state and can no longer detect photons. We present a set of experiments which elucidate this effect and a simple model which quantitatively explains the results.
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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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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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Scheel S. Single-photon sources–an introduction. J. Modern Opt.. 2009;56(2-3):141–60.
Abstract: This review surveys the physical principles and recent developments in manufacturing single-photon sources. Special emphasis is placed on important potential applications such as linear optical quantum computing (LOQC), quantum key distribution (QKD) and quantum metrology that drive the development of these sources of single photons. We discuss the quantum-mechanical properties of light prepared in a quantum state of definite photon number and compare it with coherent light that shows a Poissonian distribution of photon numbers. We examine how the single-photon fidelity directly influences the ability to transmit secure quantum bits over a predefined distance. The theoretical description of modified spontaneous decay, the main principle behind single-photon generation, provides the background for many experimental implementations such as those using microresonators or pillar microcavities. The main alternative way to generate single photons using postselection of entangled photon pairs from parametric down-conversion, will be discussed. We concentrate on describing the underlying physical principles and we will point out limitations and open problems associated with single-photon production.
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Karpowicz N, Lu X, Zhang X-C. Terahertz gas photonics. J. Modern Opt.. 2009;56(10):1137–50.
Abstract: The underlying physics of the generation and detection of terahertz (THz) waves in gases are described. The THz wave generation process takes place in two steps: asymmetric gas ionization by two-frequency laser fields, followed by interaction of the ionized electron wave packets with the surrounding medium, producing an intense ‘echo' with tunable spectral content. In order to clarify the physical picture at the moment of ionization, the laser–atom interaction is treated through solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation, yielding an ab initio understanding of the release of the electron wave packets. The second step, where the electrons interact with the surrounding plasma is treated analytically. The resulting pressure dependence of the THz radiation is explored in detail. The THz wave detection process is shown to be the result of four-wave mixing, leading to analytical expressions of the signal obtained which allow for improved optimization of systems that exploit these effects.
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Polyakov SV, Migdalla AL. Quantum radiometry. J. Modern Opt.. 2009;56(9):1045–52.
Abstract: We review radiometric techniques that take advantage of photon counting and stem from the quantum laws of nature. We present a brief history of metrological experiments and review the current state of experimental quantum radiometry.
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Dauler E, Kerman A, Robinson B, Yang J, Voronov B, Goltsman G, et al. Photon-number-resolution with sub-30-ps timing using multi-element superconducting nanowire single photon detectors. J Modern Opt. 2009;56(2):364–73.
Abstract: A photon-number-resolving detector based on a four-element superconducting nanowire single photon detector is demonstrated to have sub-30-ps resolution in measuring the arrival time of individual photons. This detector can be used to characterize the photon statistics of non-pulsed light sources and to mitigate dead-time effects in high-speed photon counting applications. Furthermore, a 25% system detection efficiency at 1550 nm was demonstrated, making the detector useful for both low-flux source characterization and high-speed photon-counting and quantum communication applications. The design, fabrication and testing of this detector are described, and a comparison between the measured and theoretical performance is presented.
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Marsili F, Bitauld D, Fiore A, Gaggero A, Leoni R, Mattioli F, et al. Superconducting parallel nanowire detector with photon number resolving functionality. J Modern Opt. 2009;56(2-3):334–44.
Abstract: We present a new photon number resolving detector (PNR), the Parallel Nanowire Detector (PND), which uses spatial multiplexing on a subwavelength scale to provide a single electrical output proportional to the photon number. The basic structure of the PND is the parallel connection of several NbN superconducting nanowires (100 nm-wide, few nm-thick), folded in a meander pattern. Electrical and optical equivalents of the device were developed in order to gain insight on its working principle. PNDs were fabricated on 3-4 nm thick NbN films grown on sapphire (substrate temperature TS=900C) or MgO (TS=400C) substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering in an Ar/N2 gas mixture. The device performance was characterized in terms of speed and sensitivity. The photoresponse shows a full width at half maximum (FWHM) as low as 660ps. PNDs showed counting performance at 80 MHz repetition rate. Building the histograms of the photoresponse peak, no multiplication noise buildup is observable and a one photon quantum efficiency can be estimated to be QE=3% (at 700 nm wavelength and 4.2 K temperature). The PND significantly outperforms existing PNR detectors in terms of simplicity, sensitivity, speed, and multiplication noise.
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Anosov AA, Barabanenkov YN, Kazanskii AS, Less YA, Sharakshane AS. The inverse problem of acoustothermography with correlation reception of thermal acoustic radiation. Acoust. Phys.. 2009;55(1):114–9.
Abstract: For the one-dimensional inverse problem of acoustothermography with correlation reception of thermal acoustic radiation, an integral equation is presented and experimentally verified. A method of solving the inverse problem is proposed. The method is based on combining the correlation functions of thermal acoustic radiation that were obtained for different distances between the receivers.
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Ozhegov RV, Okunev OV, Gol’tsman GN, Filippenko LV, Koshelets VP. Noise equivalent temperature difference of a superconducting integrated terahertz receiver. J Commun Technol Electron. 2009;54(6):716–20.
Abstract: The dependence of the noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) of a superconducting integrated receiver (SIR) on the receiver noise temperature and the inputsignal level has been investigated. An unprecedented NETD of 13±2 mK has been measured at a SIR noise temperature of 200 K, intermediate-frequency bandwidth of 4 GHz, and time constant of 1 s. With a decrease in the input signal, an improvement in the NETD is observed. This effect is explained by a reduction in the influence of the instabilities of the receiver power supply and the amplification circuit that occur when the input signal is decreased.
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