| Records |
| Author |
Trifonov, A.; Tong, C.-Y. E.; Lobanov, Y.; Kaurova, N.; Blundell, R.; Goltsman, G. |
| Title |
Photon absorption near the gap frequency in a hot electron bolometer |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2017 |
Publication |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
Abbreviated Journal |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
| Volume |
27 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
1-4 |
| Keywords |
NBN HEB mixer |
| Abstract |
The superconducting energy gap is a fundamental characteristic of a superconducting film, which, together with the applied pump power and the biasing setup, defines the instantaneous resistive state of the Hot Electron Bolometer (HEB) mixer at any given bias point on the I-V curve. In this paper we report on a series of experiments, in which we subjected the HEB to radiation over a wide frequency range along with parallel microwave injection. We have observed three distinct regimes of operation of the HEB, depending on whether the radiation is above the gap frequency, far below it or close to it. These regimes are driven by the different patterns of photon absorption. The experiments have allowed us to derive the approximate gap frequency of the device under test as about 585 GHz. Microwave injection was used to probe the HEB impedance. Spontaneous switching between the superconducting (low resistive) state and a quasi-normal (high resistive) state was observed. The switching pattern depends on the particular regime of HEB operation and can assume a random pattern at pump frequencies below the gap to a regular relaxation oscillation running at a few MHz when pumped above the gap. |
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1558-2515 |
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1331 |
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| Author |
Korneeva, Y.; Sidorova, M.; Semenov, A.; Krasnosvobodtsev, S.; Mitsen, K.; Korneev, A.; Chulkova, G.; Goltsman, G. |
| Title |
Comparison of hot-spot formation in NbC and NbN single-photon detectors |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2016 |
Publication |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
Abbreviated Journal |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
| Volume |
26 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
1-4 |
| Keywords |
NbC, NbN SSPD, SNSPD |
| Abstract |
We report an experimental investigation of the hot-spot evolution in superconducting single-photon detectors made of disordered superconducting materials with different diffusivity and energy downconversion time values, i.e., 33-nm-thick NbN and 23-nm-thick NbC films. We have demonstrated that, in NbC film, only 405-nm photons produce sufficiently large hot spot to trigger a single-photon response. The dependence of detection efficiency on bias current for 405-nm photons in NbC is similar to that for 3400-nm photons in NbN. In NbC, large diffusivity and downconversion time result in 1-D critical current suppression profile compared with the usual 2-D profile in NbN. |
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1051-8223 |
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1348 |
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Tong, C.-Y. E.; Trifonov, A.; Shurakov, A.; Blundell, R.; Gol’tsman, G. |
| Title |
A microwave-operated hot-electron-bolometric power detector for terahertz radiation |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2015 |
Publication |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
Abbreviated Journal |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
| Volume |
25 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
2300604 (1 to 4) |
| Keywords |
NbN HEB mixer |
| Abstract |
A new class of microwave-operated THz power detectors based on the NbN hot-electron-bolometer (HEB) mixer is proposed. The injected microwave signal ( 1 GHz) serves the dual purpose of pumping the HEB element and enabling the read-out of the internal state of the device. A cryogenic amplifier amplifies the reflected microwave signal from the device and a homodyne scheme recovers the effects of the incident THz radiation. Two modes of operation have been identified, depending on the level of incident radiation. For weak signals, we use a chopper to chop the incident radiation against a black body reference and a lock-in amplifier to perform synchronous detection of the homodyne readout. The voltage measured is proportional to the incident power, and we estimate an optical noise equivalent power of 5pW/ √Hz at 0.83 THz. At higher signal levels, the homodyne circuit recovers the stream of steady relaxation oscillation pulses from the HEB device. The frequency of these pulses is in the MHz frequency range and bears a linear relationship with the incident THz radiation over an input power range of 15 dB. A digital frequency counter is used to measure THz power. The applicable power range is between 1 nW and 1 μW. |
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1558-2515 |
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1354 |
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| Author |
Trifonov, A.; Tong, C.-Y. E.; Blundell, R.; Ryabchun, S.; Gol'tsman, G. |
| Title |
Probing the stability of HEB mixers with microwave injection |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2015 |
Publication |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
Abbreviated Journal |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
| Volume |
25 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
2300404 (1 to 4) |
| Keywords |
NbN HEB mixer, stability, Allan-variance |
| Abstract |
Using a microwave probe as a tool, we have performed experiments aimed at understanding the origin of the output-power fluctuations in hot-electron-bolometer (HEB) mixers. We use a probe frequency of 1.5 GHz. The microwave probe picks up impedance changes of the HEB, which are examined upon demodulation of the reflected wave outside the cryostat. This study shows that the HEB mixer operates in two different regimes under a terahertz pump. At a low pumping level, strong pulse modulation is observed, as the device switches between the superconducting state and the normal state at a rate of a few megahertz. When pumped much harder, to approximate the low-noise mixer operating point, residual modulation can still be observed, showing that the HEB mixer is intrinsically unstable even in the resistive state. Based on these observations, we introduced a low-frequency termination to the HEB mixer. By terminating the device in a 50-Ω resistor in the megahertz frequency range, we have been able to improve the output-power Allan time of our HEB receiver by a factor of four to about 10 s for a detection bandwidth of 15 MHz, with a corresponding gain fluctuation of about 0.035%. |
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1051-8223 |
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1355 |
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| Author |
Zhang, W.; Miao, W.; Li, S. L.; Zhou, K. M.; Shi, S. C.; Gao, J. R.; Goltsman, G. N. |
| Title |
Measurement of the spectral response of spiral-antenna coupled superconducting hot electron bolometers |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2013 |
Publication |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
Abbreviated Journal |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
| Volume |
23 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
2300804-2300804 |
| Keywords |
NbN HEB detector |
| Abstract |
Measured spectral response of spiral-antenna coupled superconducting hot electron bolometers (HEBs) often drops dramatically at frequencies that are still within the frequency range of interest (e.g., ~ 5 THz). This is inconsistent with the implied low receiver noise temperatures from the same measurements. To understand this discrepancy, we exhaustively test and calibrate the thermal sources used in Fourier transform spectrometer measurements. We first investigate the absolute emission spectrum of high-pressure Hg arc lamp, then measure the spectral response of two spiral-antenna coupled NbN HEBs with a Martin-Puplett interferometer as spectrometer and 77 K blackbody as broadband signal source. The measured absolute emission spectrum of Hg arc lamp is proportional to frequency, corresponding to an equivalent blackbody temperature of 4000 K at 1 THz, 1500 K at 3 THz, and 800 K at 5 THz, respectively. Measured spectral response of spiral-antenna coupled NbN HEBs, corrected for air absorption, is nearly flat in the frequency range of 0.5-4 THz, consistent with simulated coupling efficiency between HEB and spiral-antenna. These results explain the discrepancy, and prove that spiral-antenna coupled superconducting NbN HEBs work well in a wide frequency range. In addition, this calibration method and these results are broadly applicable to other quasi-optical THz receivers. |
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1051-8223 |
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1371 |
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