Terahertz high-sensitivity superconducting detectors

Shi Sheng-Cai; Li Jing; Zhang Wen; Miao Wei

doi:10.7498/aps.64.228501

Abstract

The terahertz regime, as a last radio window, remains to be fully explored, and astronomical and atmospheric observations in this regime are scientifically important. Like other frequency regimes, developing high-sensitivity detectors (coherent and incoherent) is of particular significance for both ground-based and space-borne facilities. As the coherent detector of choice below 1.4 THz, superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) heterodyne mixers have achieved as high a sensitivity as five times the quantum limit around 1.4 THz. It is, however, still a challenge to developing SIS mixers at frequencies beyond 1.4 THz with considerable transmission loss in superconducting circuits due to the Cooper-pair breaking by energetic photons and increased many difficulties in designing and fabricating. So far, superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers have been the most sensitive heterodyne detectors at frequencies above 1.5 THz, and successfully used to detect molecular spectral lines up to 2.5 THz from ground-based and space telescopes. Although spiral-antenna coupled NbN HEB mixers show a good sensitivity in the whole THz frequency range, the directly measured spectral response with Fourier transform spectrometer falls quickly as frequency increases, especially above 3 THz. The terahertz band is also of particular importance to observe astronomical objects such as cosmic microwave background, early distant objects, cold objects and dusty objects. Aiming at such objects, we develop a terahertz imaging array system by combining advanced superconducting detectors such as transition edge sensor (TES) and microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs), thus the system has a frequency band centred at 350 m, an operational temperature of 0.3 K, and a sensitivity reaching background limit performance for ground-based applications. In addition, it is expected to have some breakthroughs in ultra-sensitive superconducting TES and MKID, low noise multi-channel readout and multiplexing, efficient terahertz-wave coupling technology, and large-scale array system integration. The developed terahertz imaging array system will serve as the next-generation instrument of Dome A 5 m terahertz telescope, conducting a 350 m-band legacy survey for studying the planets, stars, galaxies and cosmology. Besides the application in astronomy, the developed terahertz imaging array system can also be applied to some areas requiring rapid detection such as security, deep space exploration, and biomedical imaging. In this paper, we mainly introduce the superconducting detectors developed at Purple Mountain Observatory and those for international collaborative projects.

Keywords:

Authors and contacts

1.
Millimeter and Sub-Millimeter Wave Laboratory, Purple Monntain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China;
2.
Key Laboratory of Radio Astronomy, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China

Corresponding author: Shi Sheng-Cai, scshi@pmo.ac.cn

Funds: Project supported by the National Major Scientific Instruments Development Project, China (Grant No. 11127903), the Major Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11190012), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB04010300), and the Outstanding Young Scientists Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11422326, 11222329).

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[27]	Miao W, Lou Z, Xu G Y, Hu J, Li S L, Zhang W, Zhou K M, Yao Q J, Zhang K, Duan W Y, Shi S C, Colombelli R, Beere H E, Ritchie D A 2015 Opt. Express 23 4453
[28]	Xu G Y, Li L H, Isac N, Halioua Y, Davies A G, Linfield E H, Colombelli R 2014 Appl. Phys. Lett. 104 091112
[29]	Wanke M C, Young E W, Nordquist C D, Cich M J, Grine A D, Fuller C T, Reno J L, Lee M 2010 Nat. Photon 4 565
[30]	Miao W, Zhang W, Zhou K M, Li S L, Zhang K, Duan W Y, Yao Q J, Shi S C 2013 Supercond. Sci. Tech. 26 085005
[31]	Irwin K D, Hilton G C 2005 Transition-Edge Sensors (Springer: Cryogenic Particle Detection in Topics in Applied Physics) pp63-150
[32]	Zhang W, Zhong J Q, Miao W, Duan W Y, Yao Q J, Shi S C, Martino J, Pajot F, Prele D, Voisin F, Piat M 2015 IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 25 2100204
[33]	Zhang Q Y, Wang T S, Liu J S, Dong W H, He G F, Li T F, Zhou X X, Chen W 2014 Chin. Phys. B 23 118502
[34]	Datta R, Hunmayr J, Munson C, Austermann J, Beall J, Becker D, Cho H M, Halverson N, Hilton G, Irwin K, Li D, McMahon J, Newburgh L, Nibarger J, Niemack M, Schmitt D, Smith H, Staggs S, van Lanen J, Wollack E 2014 J. Low Temp. Phys. 176 670

Cited By

[1]	Phillips T G, Keene J 1992 Proc. IEEE 80 1662
[2]	Zmuidzinas J, Richards P L 2004 Proc. IEEE 92 1598
[3]	Tucker J R, Feldman M J 1985 Rev. Mod. Phys. 57 1055
[4]	Shan W L, Shi S C, Sekimoto Y, Noguchi T 2007 IEEE Microw. Wirel. Co. 17 268
[5]	Jackson B D, de Lange G, Zijlstra T, Kroug M, Kooi J W, Stern J A, Klapwijk T M 2006 IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech. 54 547
[6]	Karpov A, Miller D, Rice F, Stern J A, Bumble B, LeDuc H G, Zmuidzinas J 2007 IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 17 343
[7]	Li J, Takeda M, Wang Z, Shi S C, Yang J 2008 Appl. Phys. Lett. 92 222504
[8]	Gol'tsman G N, Semenov A D, Gousev Y P, Zorin M A, Godidze I G, Gershenzon E M, Lang P T, Knott W J, Renk K F 1991 Supercond. Sci. Technol. 4 453
[9]	Prober D E 1993 Appl. Phys. Lett. 62 2119
[10]	Shi S C 2012 Sci. China: Inform. Sci. 55 120
[11]	Jiang Y, Jin B B, Xu W W, Kang L, Chen J, Wu P H 2012 Sci. China: Inform. Sci. 55 64
[12]	Jiang L, Miao W, Zhang W, Li N, Lin Z H, Yao Q J, Shi S C, Svechnikov S I, Vakhtomin Y B, Antipov S V, Voronov B M, Kaurova N S, Gol'tsman G N 2006 IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech. 54 2944
[13]	Miao W, Zhang W, Zhong J Q, Shi S C, Delorme Y, Lefevre R, Feret A, Vacelet T 2014 Appl. Phys. Lett. 104 052605
[14]	Zhang W, Khosropanah P, Gao J R, Kollberg E L, Yngvesson K S, Bansal T, Barends R, Klapwijk T M 2010 Appl. Phys. Lett. 96 111113
[15]	Zhou K M, Miao W, Lou Z, Hu J, Li S L, Zhang W, Shi S C, Lefevre R, Delorme Y, Vacelet T 2015 IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 25 2300805
[16]	Kohler R, Tredicucci A, Beltram F, Beere H E, Linfield E H, Davies A G, Ritchie D A, Iotti R C, Rossi F 2002 Nature 417 156
[17]	Gao J R, Hovenier J N, Yang Z Q, Baselmans J J A, Baryshev A, Hajenius M, Klapwijk T M, Adam A J L, Klaassen T O, Williams B S, Kumar S, Hu Q Reno J L 2005 Appl. Phys. Lett. 86 244104
[18]	Hubers H W, Pavlov S G Semenov A D, Kohler R, Mahler L, Tredicucci A, Beere H E, Ritchie D A, Linfield E H 2005 Opt. Express 13 5890
[19]	Khoscropanah P, Baryshev A, Zhang W, Jellema W, Hovenier J N, Gao J R, Klapwijk T M, Paveliev D G, Williams B S Kumar S, Hu Q, Reno J L, Klein B, Hesler J L 2009 Opt. Lett. 34 2958
[20]	Danylov A A Light A R, Waldman J, Erickson N R, Qian X F, Goodhue W D 2012 Opt. Express 20 27908
[21]	Barkan A, Tittell F K, Mittleman D M, Dengler R, Siegel P H, Scalari G, Ajili L, Faist J, Beere H E, Linfield E H, Davies A G, Ritchie D A 2004 Opt. Lett. 29 575
[22]	Amanti M I, Scalari G, Castellano F, Beck M, Faist J 2010 Opt. Express 18 6390
[23]	Ren Y, Hovenier J N, Higgins R, Gao J R, Klapwijk T M, Shi S C, Bell A, Klein B, Williams B S, Kumar S, Hu Q, Reno J L 2010 Appl. Phys. Lett. 97 161105
[24]	Ren Y, Hayton D J, Hovenier J N, Cui M, Gao J R, Klapwijl T M, Shi S C, Kao T Y, Hu Q, Reno J L 2012 Appl. Phys. Lett. 101 101111
[25]	Ren Y, Hovenier J N, Cui M, Hayton D J, Gao J R, Klapwijl T M, Shi S C, Kao T Y, Hu Q, Reno J L 2012 Appl. Phys. Lett. 100 041111
[26]	Richter H, Semenov A D, Pavlov S G, Mahler L, Tredicucci A, Beere H E, Ritchie D A, Il'in K S, Siegel M, Hubers H W 2008 Appl. Phys. Lett. 93 141108
[27]	Miao W, Lou Z, Xu G Y, Hu J, Li S L, Zhang W, Zhou K M, Yao Q J, Zhang K, Duan W Y, Shi S C, Colombelli R, Beere H E, Ritchie D A 2015 Opt. Express 23 4453
[28]	Xu G Y, Li L H, Isac N, Halioua Y, Davies A G, Linfield E H, Colombelli R 2014 Appl. Phys. Lett. 104 091112
[29]	Wanke M C, Young E W, Nordquist C D, Cich M J, Grine A D, Fuller C T, Reno J L, Lee M 2010 Nat. Photon 4 565
[30]	Miao W, Zhang W, Zhou K M, Li S L, Zhang K, Duan W Y, Yao Q J, Shi S C 2013 Supercond. Sci. Tech. 26 085005
[31]	Irwin K D, Hilton G C 2005 Transition-Edge Sensors (Springer: Cryogenic Particle Detection in Topics in Applied Physics) pp63-150
[32]	Zhang W, Zhong J Q, Miao W, Duan W Y, Yao Q J, Shi S C, Martino J, Pajot F, Prele D, Voisin F, Piat M 2015 IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 25 2100204
[33]	Zhang Q Y, Wang T S, Liu J S, Dong W H, He G F, Li T F, Zhou X X, Chen W 2014 Chin. Phys. B 23 118502
[34]	Datta R, Hunmayr J, Munson C, Austermann J, Beall J, Becker D, Cho H M, Halverson N, Hilton G, Irwin K, Li D, McMahon J, Newburgh L, Nibarger J, Niemack M, Schmitt D, Smith H, Staggs S, van Lanen J, Wollack E 2014 J. Low Temp. Phys. 176 670

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Vol. 64, Issue 22 - 2015-11-20

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