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Kahl O, Ferrari S, Kovalyuk V, Vetter A, Lewes-Malandrakis G, Nebel C, et al. Spectrally resolved single-photon imaging with hybrid superconducting – nanophotonic circuits [Internet].; 2016 [cited 2024 Aug 18].arXiv:1609.07857v1 [physics.ins-det]. Available from: https://arxiv.org/abs/1609.07857v1
Abstract: The detection of individual photons is an inherently binary mechanism, revealing either their absence or presence while concealing their spectral information. For multi-color imaging techniques, such as single photon spectroscopy, fluorescence resonance energy transfer microscopy and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, wavelength discrimination is essential and mandates spectral separation prior to detection. Here, we adopt an approach borrowed from quantum photonic integration to realize a compact and scalable waveguide-integrated single-photon spectrometer capable of parallel detection on multiple wavelength channels, with temporal resolution below 50 ps and dark count rates below 10 Hz. We demonstrate multi-detector devices for telecommunication and visible wavelengths and showcase their performance by imaging silicon vacancy color centers in diamond nanoclusters. The fully integrated hybrid superconducting-nanophotonic circuits enable simultaneous spectroscopy and lifetime mapping for correlative imaging and provide the ingredients for quantum wavelength division multiplexing on a chip.
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Jian Wei, David Olaya, Boris Karasik, Sergey Pereverzev, Andrei Sergeev, Michael Gershenson. Ultra-sensitive hot-electron nanobolometers for terahertz astrophysics. ArXiv e-prints. 2007;710.
Abstract: The background-limited spectral imaging of the early Universe requires spaceborne terahertz (THz) detectors with the sensitivity 2-3 orders of magnitude better than that of the state-of-the-art bolometers. To realize this sensitivity without sacrificing operating speed, novel detector designs should combine an ultrasmall heat capacity of a sensor with its unique thermal isolation. Quantum effects in thermal transport at nanoscale put strong limitations on the further improvement of traditional membrane-supported bolometers. Here we demonstrate an innovative approach by developing superconducting hot-electron nanobolometers in which the electrons are cooled only due to a weak electron-phonon interaction. At T<0.1K, the electron-phonon thermal conductance in these nanodevices becomes less than one percent of the quantum of thermal conductance. The hot-electron nanobolometers, sufficiently sensitive for registering single THz photons, are very promising for submillimeter astronomy and other applications based on quantum calorimetry and photon counting.
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Mazin BA, Bumble B, Meeker SR, O'Brien K, McHugh S, Langman E. A superconducting focal plane array for ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared astrophysics. arXiv. 2011:9.
Abstract: Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors, or MKIDs, have proven to be a powerful cryogenic detector technology due to their sensitivity and the ease with which they can be multiplexed into large arrays. A MKID is an energy sensor based on a photon-variable superconducting inductance in a lithographed microresonator, and is capable of functioning as a photon detector across the electromagnetic spectrum as well as a particle detector. Here we describe the first successful effort to create a photon-counting, energy-resolving ultraviolet, optical, and near infrared MKID focal plane array. These new Optical Lumped Element (OLE) MKID arrays have significant advantages over semiconductor detectors like charge coupled devices (CCDs). They can count individual photons with essentially no false counts and determine the energy and arrival time of every photon with good quantum efficiency. Their physical pixel size and maximum count rate is well matched with large telescopes. These capabilities enable powerful new astrophysical instruments usable from the ground and space. MKIDs could eventually supplant semiconductor detectors for most astronomical instrumentation, and will be useful for other disciplines such as quantum optics and biological imaging.
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Engel A, Aeschbacher A, Inderbitzin K, Schilling A, Il'in K, Hofherr M, et al. Tantalum nitride superconducting single-photon detectors with low cut-off energy. arXiv. 2011:9.
Abstract: Materials with a small superconducting energy gap favor a high detection efficiency of low-energy photons in superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors. We developed a TaN detector with smaller gap and lower density of states at the Fermi energy than in comparable NbN devices, while other relevant parameters remain essentially unchanged. This results in a reduction of the minimum photon energy required for direct detection to $\approx1/3$ as compared to NbN.
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Amundsen M, Linder J. General solution of 2D and 3D superconducting quasiclassical systems: coalescing vortices and nanodisk geometries. arXiv:1512.00030 [cond-mat.supr-con]. 2015.
Abstract: In quasiclassical Keldysh theory, the Green function matrix g<cb><2021> is used to compute a variety of physical quantities in mesoscopic systems. However, solving the set of non-linear differential equations that provide g<cb><2021> becomes a challenging task when going to higher spatial dimensions than one. Such an extension is crucial in order to describe physical phenomena like charge/spin Hall effects and topological excitations like vortices and skyrmions, none of which can be captured in one-dimensional models. We here present a numerical finite element method which solves the 2D and 3D quasiclassical Usadel equation, without any linearisation, relevant for the diffusive regime. We show the application of this on two model systems with non-trivial geometries: (i) a bottlenecked Josephson junction with external flux and (ii) a nanodisk ferromagnet deposited on top of a superconductor. We demonstrate that it is possible to control externally not only the geometrical array in which superconducting vortices arrange themselves, but also to cause coalescence and thus tune the number of vortices. The finite element method presented herein could pave the way for gaining insight in physical phenomena which so far have remained largely unexplored due to the complexity of solving the full quasiclassical equations in higher dimensions.
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