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Author Gupta, D.; Kadin, A. M.
Title Single-photon-counting hotspot detector with integrated RSFQ readout electronics Type Journal Article
Year 1999 Publication IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Abbreviated Journal
Volume 9 Issue 2 Pages 4487-4490
Keywords RSFQ, SSPD, SNSPD
Abstract (up) Absorption of an infrared photon in an ultrathin film (such as 10-nm NbN) creates a localized nonequilibrium hotspot on the submicron length scale and sub-ns time scale. If a strip /spl sim/1 /spl mu/m wide is biased in the middle of the superconducting transition, this hotspot will lead to a resistance pulse with amplitude proportional to the energy of the incident photon. This resistance pulse, in turn, can be converted to a current pulse and inductively coupled to a SQUID amplifier with a digitized output, operating at 4 K or above. A preliminary design analysis indicates that this data can be processed on-chip, using ultrafast RSFQ digital circuits, to obtain a sensitive infrared detector for wavelengths up to 10 /spl mu/m and beyond, with bandwidth of 1 GHz, that counts individual photons and measures their energy with 25 meV resolution. This proposed device combines the speed of a hot-electron bolometer with the single-photon-counting ability of a transition-edge microcalorimeter, to obtain an infrared detector with sensitivity, speed, and spectral selectivity that are unmatched by any alternative technology.
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Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1080
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Author Zolotov, P.; Semenov, A.; Divochiy, A.; Goltsman, G.
Title A comparison of VN and NbN thin films towards optimal SNSPD efficiency Type Journal Article
Year 2021 Publication IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Abbreviated Journal IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond.
Volume 31 Issue 5 Pages 1-4
Keywords NbN SSPD, SNSPD, WSi
Abstract (up) Based on early phenomenological ideas about the operation of superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPD or SNSPD), it was expected that materials with a lower superconducting gap should perform better in the IR range. The plausibility of this concept could be checked using two popular SSPD materials – NbN and WSi films. However, these materials differ strongly in crystallographic structure (polycrystalline B1 versus amorphous), which makes their dependence on disorder different. In our work we present a study of the single-photon response of SSPDs made from two disordered B1 structure superconductors – vanadium nitride and niobium nitride thin films. We compare the intrinsic efficiency of devices made from films with different sheet resistance values. While both materials have a polycrystalline structure and comparable diffusion coefficient values, VN films show metallic behavior over a wide range of sheet resistance, in contrast to NbN films with an insulator-like temperature dependence of resistivity, which may be partially due to enhanced Coulomb interaction, leading to different starting points for the normal electron density of states. The results show that even though VN devices are more promising in terms of theoretical predictions, their optimal performance was not reached due to lower values of sheet resistance.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1051-8223 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1223
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Author Skalare, A.; McGrath, William R.; Echternach, P. M.; Leduc, H. G.; Siddiqi, I.; Verevkin, A.; Prober, D. E.
Title Aluminum hot-electron bolometer mixers at submillimeter wavelengths Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Abbreviated Journal
Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 641-644
Keywords Al HEB mixer, contacts, interface, in situ, in-situ, Aluminium HEB mixer
Abstract (up) Diffusion-cooled aluminum hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers are of interest for low-noise high resolution THz-frequency spectroscopy within astrophysics. Al HEB mixers offer operation with an order of magnitude less local oscillator power, higher intermediate frequency bandwidth and potentially lower noise than competing devices made from other materials. We report on mixer experiments at 618 GHz with devices fabricated from films with sheet resistances in the range from about 55 Ω down to about 9 Ω per square. Intermediate frequency bandwidths of up to 3 GHz were measured (1 μm long device), with absorbed local oscillator power levels of 0.5 to 6 nW and mixer conversion up to -21.5 dB. High input coupling efficiency implies that the electrons in the device are able to thermalize before escaping from the device. It was found that the long coherence length complicates mixer operations due to the proximity of the contact pads. Also, saturation at the IF frequency may be a concern for this type of device, and warrants further studies.
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Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1051-8223 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number ref919426b Serial 1061
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Author Gol’tsman, G. N.; Smirnov, K.; Kouminov, P.; Voronov, B.; Kaurova, N.; Drakinsky, V.; Zhang, J.; Verevkin, A.; Sobolewski, R.
Title Fabrication of nanostructured superconducting single-photon detectors Type Journal Article
Year 2003 Publication IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Abbreviated Journal IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond.
Volume 13 Issue 2 Pages 192-195
Keywords NbN SSPD, SNSPD
Abstract (up) Fabrication of NbN superconducting single-photon detectors, based on the hotspot effect is presented. The hotspot formation arises in an ultrathin and submicrometer-width superconductor stripe and, together with the supercurrent redistribution, leads to the resistive detector response upon absorption of a photon. The detector has a meander structure to maximally increase its active area and reach the highest detection efficiency. Main processing steps, leading to efficient devices, sensitive in 0.4-5 /spl mu/m wavelength range, are presented. The impact of various processing steps on the performance and operational parameters of our detectors is discussed.
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Corporate Author Thesis
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Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1558-2515 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1515
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Author Zorin, M.; Gol'tsman, G.N.; Karasik, B.S.; Elantev, A.I.; Gershenzon, E.M.; Lindgren, M.; Danerud, M.; Winkler, D.
Title Optical mixing in thin YBa2Cu3O7-x films Type Journal Article
Year 1995 Publication IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Abbreviated Journal IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond.
Volume 5 Issue 2 Pages 2431-2434
Keywords YBCO HTS HEB mixers
Abstract (up) High quality, j/sub c/ (77 K)>10/sup 6/ A/cm/sup 2/, epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7-x films of 50 nm thickness were patterned into ten parallel 1 /spl mu/m wide strips. The film structure was coupled to a single-mode fiber. Mixer response was obtained at 0.78 /spl mu/m using laser frequency modulation and an optical delay line. Using two semiconductor lasers at 1.55 /spl mu/m wavelength the beating signal was used to measure the photoresponse up to 18 GHz. Nonequilibrium photoresponse in the resistive state of the superconductor was observed. Bolometric response dominates up to 3 GHz, after which the nonequilibrium response is constant up to the frequency limit of our registration system. Using an electron heating model the influence of different thermal processes on the conversion loss has been analyzed. Ways of increasing the sensitivity are also discussed.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1051-8223 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1619
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