%0 Journal Article
%T Heterodyne detection at near-infrared wavelengths with a superconducting NbN hot-electron bolometer mixer
%A Lobanov, Yury
%A Shcherbatenko, Michael
%A Shurakov, Alexander
%A Rodin, Alexander V.
%A Klimchuk, Artem
%A Nadezhdinsky, Alexander I.
%A Maslennikov, Sergey
%A Larionov, Pavel
%A Finkel, Matvey
%A Semenov, Alexander
%A Verevkin, Aleksandr A.
%A Voronov, Boris M.
%A Ponurovsky, Yakov
%A Klapwijk, Teunis M.
%A Gol'tsman, Gregory N.
%J Opt. Lett.
%D 2014
%V 39
%N 6
%F Lobanov_etal2014
%O exported from refbase (https://db.rplab.ru/refbase/show.php?record=906), last updated on Thu, 13 May 2021 13:23:13 -0500
%X We report on the development of a highly sensitive optical receiver for heterodyne IR spectroscopy at the communication wavelength of 1.5 μm (200 THz) by use of a superconducting hot-electron bolometer. The results are important for the resolution of narrow spectral molecular lines in the near-IR range for the study of astronomical objects, as well as for quantum optical tomography and fiber-optic sensing. Receiver configuration as well as fiber-to-detector light coupling designs are discussed. Light absorption of the superconducting detectors was enhanced by nano-optical antennas, which were coupled to optical fibers. An intermediate frequency (IF) bandwidth of about 3 GHz was found in agreement with measurements at 300 GHz, and a noise figure of about 25 dB was obtained that was only 10 dB above the quantum limit.
%K HEB
%K zebra
%K IR
%K infrared
%R 10.1364/OL.39.001429
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OL.39.001429
%U https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.39.001429
%P 1429-1432