de Lange G, Krieg J-M, Honingh N, Karpov A, Cherednichenko S. Performance of the HIFI flight mixers. In: Proc. 19th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol.; 2008. p. 98–105.
Abstract: We summarize the technology and final results of the superconducting heterodyne SIS and HEB mixers that are developed for the HIFI instrument. Within HIFI 7 frequency bands cover the frequency range from 480 GHz to 1910 GHz. We describe the different device technologies and optical coupling schemes that are used to cover the frequency bands. The efforts of the different mixer teams that participate in HIFI have contributed to an instrument that will have unprecedented sensitivity and frequency coverage.
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Seleznev VA, Tarkhov MA, Voronov BM, Milostnaya II, Lyakhno VY, Garbuz AS, et al. Deposition and characterization of few-nanometers-thick superconducting Mo-Re films. Supercond Sci Technol. 2008;21(11):115006 (1 to 6).
Abstract: We report on the fabrication and investigation of few-nanometers-thick superconducting molybdenum-rhenium (Mo-Re) films intended for use in nanowire single-photon superconducting detectors (SSPDs). Mo-Re films were deposited on sapphire substrates by DC magnetron sputtering of an Mo(60)-Re(40) alloy target in an atmosphere of argon. The films 2-10 nm thick had critical temperatures (Tc) from 5.6 to 9.7 K. HRTEM (high-resolution transmission electron microscopy) analysis showed that the films had a homogeneous structure. XPS (x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) analysis showed the Mo to Re atom ratio to be 0.575/0.425, oxygen concentration to be 10%, and concentration of other elements to be 1%.
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Bryant GW, García de Abajo FJ, Aizpurua J. Mapping the Plasmon Resonances of Metallic Nanoantennas. Nano Lett. 2008;5(2):631–6.
Abstract: We study the light scattering and surface plasmon resonances of Au nanorods that are commonly used as optical nanoantennas in analogy to dipole radio antennas for chemical and biodetection field-enhanced spectroscopies and scanned-probe microscopies. With the use of the boundary element method, we calculate the nanorod near-field and far-field response to show how the nanorod shape and dimensions determine its optical response. A full mapping of the size (length and radius) dependence for Au nanorods is obtained. The dipolar plasmon resonance wavelength λ shows a nearly linear dependence on total rod length L out to the largest lengths that we study. However, L is always substantially less than λ/2, indicating the difference between optical nanoantennas and long-wavelength traditional λ/2 antennas. Although it is often assumed that the plasmon wavelength scales with the nanorod aspect ratio, we find that this scaling does not apply except in the extreme limit of very small, spherical nanoparticles. The plasmon response depends critically on both the rod length and radius. Large (500 nm) differences in resonance wavelength are found for structures with different sizes but with the same aspect ratio. In addition, the plasmon resonance deduced from the near-field enhancement can be significantly red-shifted due to retardation from the resonance in far-field scattering. Large differences in near-field and far-field response, together with the breakdown of the simple scaling law must be accounted for in the choice and design of metallic λ/2 nanoantennas. We provide a general, practical map of the resonances for use in locating the desired response for gold nanoantennas.
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Saynak UÄŸ. Novel rectangular spiral antennas.; 2008.
Abstract: Round spiral antennas are generally designed by using Archimedean spiral geometries which have linear growth rates. To obtain smaller antennas with nearly the same performance, square spiral Archimedean geometries are also widely used instead. In this study, novel square antennas are proposed, designed and examined. At first two similar but different approaches are employed to design new antennas by considering the design procedure used to obtain log-periodic antennas. Then, the performance of these antennas is improved by considering another property of log-periodic antennas. Simulations are performed by using two different numerical methods which are Finite Difference Time Domain Method (FDTD) and Method of Moments (MoM). The results obtained from the simulations are compared with those of the Archimedean spiral antennas in terms of the frequency dependency of fundamental antenna parameters such as antenna gain and radiation pattern. The simulation results are compared with the ones obtained from the experimental study.
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Pirandola S, Mancini S, Lloyd S, Braunstein SL. Continuous-variable quantum cryptography using two-way quantum communication. Nat Phys. 2008;4(9):726–30.
Abstract: Quantum cryptography has recently been extended to continuous-variable systems, such as the bosonic modes of the electromagnetic field possessing continuous degrees of freedom. In particular, several cryptographic protocols have been proposed and experimentally implemented using bosonic modes with Gaussian statistics. These protocols have shown the possibility of reaching very high secret key rates, even in the presence of strong losses in the quantum communication channel. Despite this robustness to loss, their security can be affected by more general attacks where extra Gaussian noise is introduced by the eavesdropper. Here, we show a `hardware solution' for enhancing the security thresholds of these protocols. This is possible by extending them to two-way quantum communication where subsequent uses of the quantum channel are suitably combined. In the resulting two-way schemes, one of the honest parties assists the secret encoding of the other, with the chance of a non-trivial superadditive enhancement of the security thresholds. These results should enable the extension of quantum cryptography to more complex quantum communications.
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