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Author Baubert, J.; Salez, M.; Delorme, Y.; Pons, P.; Goltsman, G.; Merkel, H.; Leconte, B.
Title Membrane-based HEB mixer for THz applications Type Conference Article
Year 2003 Publication Proc. SPIE Abbreviated Journal Proc. SPIE
Volume 5116 Issue Pages 551-562
Keywords membrane NbN HEB mixers, heterodyne receiver, stress-less membrane, coupling efficiency, submillimeter-waves frequency, low-cost space applications
Abstract (up) We report in this paper a new concept for 2.7 THz superconducting Niobium nitride (NbN) Hot-Electron Bolometer mixer (HEB). The membrane process was developped for space telecommnunication applications a few years ago and the HEB mixer concept is now considered as the best choice for low-noise submillimeter-wave frequency heterodyne receivers. The idea is then to join these two technologies. The novel fabrication scheme is to fabricate a NbN HEB mixer on a 1 μm thick stress-less Si3N4/SiO2 membrane. This seems to present numerous improvements concerning : use at higher RF frequencies, power coupling efficiency, HEB mixer sensitivity, noise temperature, and space applications. This work is to be continued within the framework of an ESA TRP project, a 2.7 THz heterodyne camera with numerous applications including a SOFIA airborne receiver. This paper presents the whole fabrication process, the validation tests and preliminary results. Membrane-based HEB mixer theory is currently being investigated and further tests such as heterodyne and Fourier transform spectrometry measurement are planed shortly.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher SPIE Place of Publication Editor Chiao, J.-C.; Varadan, V.K.; Cané, C.
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference Smart Sensors, Actuators, and MEMS
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1520
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Author Karasik, B. S.; Zorin, M. A.; Milostnaya, I. I.; Elantev, A. I.; Gol’tsman, G. N.; Gershenzon, E. M.
Title Evidence of subnanosecond transition stage in S-N current switching of YBaCuO films Type Conference Article
Year 1994 Publication Proc. SPIE Abbreviated Journal Proc. SPIE
Volume 2160 Issue Pages 74-82
Keywords YBCO HTS switches
Abstract (up) We report on a study of S-N and N-S current switching in high quality YBaCuO films deposited onto ZrO2 and NdGaO3 substrates. The films 60-120 nm thick prepared by laser ablation were structured into single strips and were provided with gold contacts. We monitored the time dependence of the resistance upon application of the voltage step on the film. Experiment performed within certain ranges of voltage amplitudes and temperatures showed the occurrence of the fast stage both in S-N (shorter than 300 ps) and N-S transition. We discuss the mechanism of switching taking into account the hot electron phenomena in YBaCuO. The contributions of various thermal processes in the subsequent stage of the resistance dynamic are also discussed. The basic limiting characteristics (average dissipated power, minimum work done for switching, maximum repetition rate) of a picosecond switch which is proposed to be developed are estimated.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher SPIE Place of Publication Editor Buhrman, R.A.; Clarke, J.T.; Daly, K.; Koch, R.H.; Luine, J.A.; Simon, R.W.
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference Superconductive Devices and Circuits
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1638
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Author Milostnaya, I.; Korneev, A.; Minaeva, O.; Rubtsova, I.; Slepneva, S.; Seleznev, V.; Chulkova, G.; Okunev, O.; Smirnov, K.; Voronov, B.; Gol’tsman, G.; Slysz, W.; Kitaygorsky, J.; Cross, A.; Pearlman, A.; Sobolewski, R.
Title Superconducting nanostructured detectors capable of single photon counting of mid-infrared optical radiation Type Conference Article
Year 2005 Publication Proc. SPIE Abbreviated Journal Proc. SPIE
Volume 5957 Issue Pages 59570A (1 to 9)
Keywords SSPD, SNSPD, single-photon detectors, superconductors, superconducting
Abstract (up) We report on our progress in research and development of ultrafast superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs) based on ultrathin NbN nanostructures. Our SSPDs were made of the 4-nm-thick NbN films with Tc 11 K, patterned as meander-shaped, 100-nm-wide strips, and covering an area of 10×10 μm2. The detectors exploit a combined detection mechanism, where upon a single-photon absorption, a hotspot of excited electrons and redistribution of the biasing supercurrent, jointly produce a picosecond voltage transient signal across the superconducting nanostripe. The SSPDs are typically operated at 4.2 K, but their sensitivity in the infrared radiation range can be significantly improved by lowering the operating temperature from 4.2 K to 2 K. When operated at 2 K, the SSPD quantum efficiency (QE) for visible light photons reaches 30-40%, which is the saturation value limited by the optical absorption of our 4-nm-thick NbN film. With the wavelength increase of the incident photons,the QE of SSPDs decreases significantly, but even at the wavelength of 6 μm, the detector is able to count single photons and exhibits QE of about 10-2 %. The dark (false) count rate at 2 K is as low as 2x10-4 s,-1 which makes our detector essentially a background-limited sensor. The very low dark-count rate results in a noise equivalent power (NEP) below 10-18 WHz-1/2 for the mid-infrared range (6 μm). Further improvement of the SSPD performance in the mid-infrared range can be obtained by substituting NbN for another, lower-Tc materials with a narrow superconducting gap and low quasiparticles diffusivity. The use of such superconductors should shift the cutoff wavelength below 10 μm.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher SPIE Place of Publication Editor Rogalski, A.; Dereniak, E.L.; Sizov, F.F.
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference Infrared Photoelectronics
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1458
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Author Ryabchun, S.; Tong, C.-yu E.; Blundell, R.; Kimberk, R.; Gol’tsman, G.
Title Effect of microwave radiation on the stability of terahertz hot-electron bolometer mixers Type Conference Article
Year 2006 Publication Proc. SPIE Abbreviated Journal Proc. SPIE
Volume 6373 Issue Pages 63730J (1 to 5)
Keywords NbN HEB mixers, hot-electron bolometer mixers, stability, Allan variance, LO power fluctuations
Abstract (up) We report our studies of the effect of microwave radiation, with a frequency much lower than that corresponding to the energy gap of the superconductor, on the performance of the NbN hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixer incorporated into a THz heterodyne receiver. It is shown that exposing the HEB mixer to microwave radiation does not result in a significant rise of the receiver noise temperature and degradation of the mixer conversion gain so long as the level of microwave power is small compared to the local oscillator drive. Hence the injection of a small, but controlled amount of microwave radiation enables active compensation of local oscillator power and coupling fluctuations which can significantly degrade the stability of HEB mixer receivers.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher SPIE Place of Publication Editor Anwar, M.; DeMaria, A.J.; Shur, M.S.
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference Terahertz Physics, Devices, and Systems
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1441
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Author Verevkin, A. A.; Zhang, J.; Slysz, W.; Sobolewski, R.; Lipatov, A. P.; Okunev, O.; Chulkova, G.; Korneev, A.; Gol’tsman, G. N.
Title Superconducting single-photon detectors for GHz-rate free-space quantum communications Type Conference Article
Year 2002 Publication Proc. SPIE Abbreviated Journal Proc. SPIE
Volume 4821 Issue Pages 447-454
Keywords NbN SSPD, SNSPD, single-photon detector, thin-film superconductivity, quantum cryptography, ultrafast communications
Abstract (up) We report our studies on the performance of new NbN ultrathin-film superconducting single-photon detectors (SSPDs). Our SSPDs exhibit experimentally measured quantum efficiencies from   5% at wavelength λ = 1550 nm up to  10% at λ = 405 nm, with exponential, activation-energy-type spectral sensitivity dependence in the 0.4-μm – 3-μm wavelength range. Using a variable optical delay setup, we have shown that our NbN SSPDs can resolve optical photons with a counting rate up to 10 GHz, presently limited by the read-out electronics. The measured device jitter was below 35 ps under optimum biasing conditions. The extremely high photon counting rate, together with relatively high (especially for λ > 1 μm) quantum efficiency, low jitter, and very low dark counts, make NbN SSPDs very promising for free-space communications and quantum cryptography.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher SPIE Place of Publication Editor Ricklin, J.C.; Voelz, D.G.
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference Free-Space Laser Communication and Laser Imaging II
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1523
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