Nikogosyan AS, Martirosyan RM, Hakhoumian AA, Makaryan AH, Tadevosyan VR, Goltsman GN, et al. Effect of absorption on the efficiency of terahertz radiation generation in the metal waveguide partially filled with nonlinear crystal LiNbO3, DAST or ZnTe. J Contemp Phys. 2019;54(1):97–104.
Abstract: The influence of terahertz (THz) radiation absorption on the efficiency of generation of coherent THz radiation in the system ‘nonlinear-optical crystal partially filling the cross section of a rectangular metal waveguide’ has been investigated. The efficiency of the nonlinear frequency conversion of optical laser radiation to the THz range depends on the loss in the system and the fulfillment of the phase-matching (FM) condition in a nonlinear crystal. The method of partially filling of a metal waveguide with a nonlinear optical crystal is used to ensure phase matching. The phase matching is achieved by numerical determination of the thickness of the nonlinear crystal, that is the degree of partial filling of the waveguide. The attenuation of THz radiation caused by losses both in the metal walls of the waveguide and in the crystal was studied, taking into account the dimension of the cross section of the waveguide, the degree of partial filling, and the dielectric constant of the crystal. It is shown that the partial filling of the waveguide with a nonlinear crystal results in an increase in the efficiency of generation of THz radiation by an order of magnitude, owing to the decrease in absorption.
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Ferrari S, Kovalyuk V, Vetter A, Lee C, Rockstuhl C, Semenov A, et al. Analysis of the detection response of waveguide-integrated superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors at high count rate. Appl Phys Lett. 2019;115(10):101104.
Abstract: Nanophotonic circuitry and superconducting nanowires have been successfully combined for detecting single photons, propagating in an integrated photonic circuit, with high efficiency and low noise and timing uncertainty. Waveguide-integrated superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) can nowadays be engineered to achieve subnanosecond recovery times and can potentially be adopted for applications requiring Gcps count rates. However, particular attention shall be paid to such an extreme count rate regime since artifacts in the detector functionality emerge. In particular, a count-rate dependent detection efficiency has been encountered that can compromise the accuracy of quantum detector tomography experiments. Here, we investigate the response of waveguide-integrated SNSPDs at high photon flux and identify the presence of parasitic currents due to the accumulation of charge in the readout electronics to cause the above-mentioned artifact in the detection efficiency. Our approach allows us to determine the maximum photon count rate at which the detector can be operated without adverse effects. Our findings are particularly important to avoid artifacts when applying SNSPDs for quantum tomography.
We acknowledge support through ERC Consolidator Grant No. 724707 and from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through Project No. PE 1832/5-1,2, as well as funding by the Volkswagen Foundation. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 675745. V.K. and G.G. acknowledge support from the Russian Science Foundation Project No. 16-12-00045 (NbN film deposition and testing). A.V. acknowledges support from the Karlsruhe School of Optics and Photonics (KSOP).
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Rasulova GK, Pentin IV, Goltsman GN. Terahertz emission from a weakly-coupled GaAs/AlGaAs superlattice biased into three different modes of current self-oscillations. AIP Advances. 2019;9(10):105220.
Abstract: Radio-frequency modulated terahertz (THz) emission power from weakly-coupled GaAs/AlGaAs superlattice (SL) has been increased by parallel connection of several SL mesas. Each SL mesa is a self-oscillator with its own oscillation frequency and mode. In coupled non-identical SL mesas biased at different voltages within the hysteresis loop the chaotic, quasiperiodic and frequency-locked modes of self-oscillations of current arise. THz emission was detected when three connected in parallel SL mesas were biased into the frequency-locked and quasiperiodic modes of self-oscillations of current, while in the chaotic mode of those it falls to the noise level.
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Elezov M, Ozhegov R, Goltsman G, Makarov V. Countermeasure against bright-light attack on superconducting nanowire single-photon detector in quantum key distribution. Opt Express. 2019;27(21):30979–88.
Abstract: We present an active anti-latching system for superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors. We experimentally test it against a bright-light attack, previously used to compromise security of quantum key distribution. Although our system detects continuous blinding, the detector is shown to be partially blindable and controllable by specially tailored sequences of bright pulses. Improvements to the countermeasure are suggested.
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Moshkova M, Divochiy A, Morozov P, Vakhtomin Y, Antipov A, Zolotov P, et al. High-performance superconducting photon-number-resolving detectors with 86% system efficiency at telecom range. J Opt Soc Am B. 2019;36(3):B20.
Abstract: The use of improved fabrication technology, highly disordered NbN thin films, and intertwined section topology makes it possible to create high-performance photon-number-resolving superconducting single-photon detectors (PNR SSPDs) that are comparable to conventional single-element SSPDs at the telecom range. The developed four-section PNR SSPD has simultaneously an 86±3% system detection efficiency, 35 cps dark count rate, ∼2 ns dead time, and maximum 90 ps jitter. An investigation of the PNR SSPD’s detection efficiency for multiphoton events shows good uniformity across sections. As a result, such a PNR SSPD is a good candidate for retrieving the photon statistics for light sources and quantum key distribution systems.
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