Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPD) made from amorphous superconductors have showed great promise for achieving high fabrication yields, due to the highly uniform nature of the films. We present progress on the development of SNSPD based on amorphous MoSi with a critical temperature of around 5 K, which is ideal for detector operation at temperatures of 1 – 2.5 K, accessible with widely available cryogenic systems. First generation devices have achieved a saturated internal efficiency from visible to near-infrared wavelengths, which is the first requirement for high overall system efficiency. The broadband response has allowed us to make a robust study the energy-current relation in these devices, which defines the current required for a saturated internal detection efficiency for a given incident photon energy. Contrary to previous studies with other material systems, we find a nonlinear energy-current relation, which is an important insight into the detection mechanism in SNSPDs. The latest generation devices have been embedded into an micro-cavity structure in order to increase the system detection efficiency, which has increased to over 65% at 1550 nm. The efficiency is believed to be limited by fabrication imperfections and we present ongoing progress towards improving this characteristic as well as the yield of the devices. Efforts are also being made towards increasing the maximum operating temperature of the devices.
The interaction of large-area single-layer CVD-graphene with a metasurface constituted by THz split-ring resonators was studied via THz Time-Domain Spectroscopy in the frequency range 250 GHz÷2.75 THz. Transmission measurements showed that the presence of the graphene shifts the resonances of the THz-metasurface towards lower energies and increases the transmittance, mainly at resonance. A comparison between two possible configuration is here presented revealing a much stronger interaction for the case of split-ring resonators evaporated directly onto the CVD-graphene layer with respect to the opposite configuration. From the recent literature the presented system is a good candidate for THz modulators with possible use also in cavity-QED experiments.
Shot-noise in the electrical current through a 'device' is caused by random processes that determine the electron transport from source to drain. Two sources can be distinguished: on the hand, electrons may randomly emanate from the contacts (source and drain), because the relevant states in the reservoirs fluctuate. On the other hand, the transmission through the device is non-deterministic (non-classical). As we demonstrate in this article the former dominates noise in the vacuum tube, whereas the latter applies to coherent mesoscopic devices, which have been studied in great detail during the last decade.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.