Daniel E. Prober

Optical antenna: Towards a unity efficiency near-field optical probe

We demonstrate that an antenna can be used to realize a near-field optical probe that combines spatial resolution well below the diffraction limit with transmission efficiency approaching unity. The probe consists of a planar bow-tie antenna with an open-circuited gap at its apex. We present proof-of-principle measurements using microwave radiation and discuss scaling the antenna to the visible optical spectrum.

Superconducting terahertz mixer using a transition-edge microbolometer

We present a new device concept for a mixer element for THz frequencies. This uses a superconducting transition‐edge microbridge biased at the center of its superconducting transition near 4.2 K. It is fed from an antenna or waveguide structure. Power from a local oscillator and a rf signal produce a temperature and resulting resistance variation at the difference frequency. The new aspect is the use of a very short bridge in which rapid (<0.1 ns) outdiffusion of hot electrons occurs. This gives large intermediate frequency (if) response. The mixer offers ≊4 GHz if bandwidth, ≊80 Ω rf resistive impedance, good match to the if amplifier, and requires only 1–20 nW of local oscillator power. The upper rf frequency is determined by antenna or waveguide properties. Predicted mixer conversion efficiency is 1/8, and predicted double‐sideband receiver noise temperatures are 260 and 90 K for transition widths of 0.1 and 0.5 Tc, respectively.

Chapter 4 - Nanometer-Scale Fabrication Techniques

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of the new techniques for fabrication at a size scale below 100 nm. A number of nanometer-scale devices and scientific studies have become possible with these techniques, and research in this field has seen a number of recent successes. The chapter focuses on the limits and applications of the nanometer-scale fabrication techniques, not their practicality for current device production. The chapter presents the three-dimensional techniques that seem to permit fabrication of structures smaller than 10 nm. However, there are a variety of effects that limit their resolution. The most obvious is penumbra because of limited collimation of the ion beam or evaporant flux. This effect can be eliminated at the cost of reduced flux by simply using apertures or moving the source further from the sample. The chapter also describes the utilization of the third dimension and new three-dimensional lithographic approaches. Such approaches are of clear advantage for achieving high-aspect-ratio patterns, high resolution, and good line width control over a large field of view. When three-dimensional approaches are combined with other self-aligning or self-limiting processes, very powerful device micro-fabrication approaches can be developed.

Phase-preserving amplification near the quantum limit with a Josephson ring modulator

Recent progress in solid-state quantum information processing has stimulated the search for amplifiers and frequency converters with quantum-limited performance in the microwave range. Depending on the gain applied to the quadratures of a single spatial and temporal mode of the electromagnetic field, linear amplifiers can be classified into two categories (phase sensitive and phase preserving) with fundamentally different noise properties. Phase-sensitive amplifiers use squeezing to reduce the quantum noise, but are useful only in cases in which a reference phase is attached to the signal, such as in homodyne detection. A phase-preserving amplifier would be preferable in many applications, but such devices have not been available until now. Here we experimentally realize a proposal for an intrinsically phase-preserving, superconducting parametric amplifier of non-degenerate type. It is based on a Josephson ring modulator, which consists of four Josephson junctions in a Wheatstone bridge configuration. The device symmetry greatly enhances the purity of the amplification process and simplifies both its operation and its analysis. The measured characteristics of the amplifier in terms of gain and bandwidth are in good agreement with analytical predictions. Using a newly developed noise source, we show that the upper bound on the total system noise of our device under real operating conditions is three times the quantum limit. We foresee applications in the area of quantum analog signal processing, such as quantum non-demolition single-shot readout of qubits, quantum feedback and the production of entangled microwave signal pairs.

Environmental effects in the third moment of voltage fluctuations in a tunnel junction.

We present the first measurements of the third moment of the voltage fluctuations in a conductor. This technique can provide new and complementary information on the electronic transport in conducting systems. The measurement was performed on nonsuperconducting tunnel junctions as a function of voltage bias, for various temperatures and bandwidths up to 1 GHz. The data demonstrate the significant effect of the electromagnetic environment of the sample.

Length scaling of bandwidth and noise in hot‐electron superconducting mixers

Mixing experiments have been performed at frequencies from 4 to 20 GHz on Nb thin‐film superconducting hot‐electron bolometers varying in length from 0.08 to 3 μm. The intermediate frequency (IF) bandwidth is found to vary as L−2, with L the bridge length, for devices shorter than √12 Le−ph≊1 μm, with Le−ph the electron‐phonon length. The shortest device has an IF bandwidth greater than 6 GHz, the largest reported for a low‐Tc superconducting bolometric mixer. The conversion efficiencies range from −5 to −11 dB (single sideband, SSB). For short bridges, the mixer noise temperature is found to be as low as 100 K (double sideband, DSB), with little length dependence. The local oscillator power required is small, ≊10 nW. Such mixers are very promising for low‐noise THz heterodyne receivers.

Large bandwidth and low noise in a diffusion‐cooled hot‐electron bolometer mixer

Heterodyne measurements have been made at 533 GHz using a novel superconducting hot‐electron bolometer in a waveguide mixer. The bolometer is a 0.3 μm long niobium microbridge with a superconducting transition temperature of 5 K. The short length ensures that electron diffusion dominates over electron‐phonon interactions as the electron cooling mechanism, which should allow heterodyne detection with intermediate frequencies (if) of several GHz. A Y‐factor response of 1.15 dB has been obtained at an if of 1.4 GHz with 77 and 295 K loads, indicating a receiver noise temperature of 650 K DSB. The −3 dB rolloff in the if response occurs at 1.7 GHz.

Fabrication of 300‐Å metal lines with substrate‐step techniques

Metal lines as narrow as 30 nm and as long as 0.5 mm have been fabricated by new techniques based on substrates with surface‐relief steps. Substrate steps with a square profile are formed by ion‐beam etching. Metal wires of triangular cross section are produced by ion‐etching a metal‐coated substrate at an angle, so that the wire is formed in the shadow of the step. An alternative process, direct evaporation onto the step edge, is used to produce lines of very high aspect ratio of height to width.

Tunable superconducting nanoinductors

We characterize inductors fabricated from ultra-thin, approximately 100 nm wide strips of niobium (Nb) and niobium nitride (NbN). These nanowires have a large kinetic inductance in the superconducting state. The kinetic inductance scales linearly with the nanowire length, with a typical value of 1 nH µm(-1) for NbN and 44 pH µm(-1) for Nb at a temperature of 2.5 K. We measure the temperature and current dependence of the kinetic inductance and compare our results to theoretical predictions. We also simulate the self-resonant frequencies of these nanowires in a compact meander geometry. These nanowire inductive elements have applications in a variety of microwave frequency superconducting circuits.

Nanobolometers for THz Photon Detection

This paper reviews the state of rapidly emerging terahertz hot-electron nanobolometers (nano-HEB), which are currently among of the most sensitive radiation power detectors at submillimeter wavelengths. With the achieved noise equivalent power close to 10-19 W/Hz1/2 and potentially capable of approaching NEP ~ 10-20 W/Hz1/2, nano-HEBs are very important for future space astrophysics platforms with ultralow submillimeter radiation background. The ability of these sensors to detect single low-energy photons with high dynamic range opens interesting possibilities for quantum calorimetry in the midinfrared and even in the far-infrared parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. We discuss the competition in the field of ultrasensitive detectors, the physics and technology of nano-HEBs, recent experimental results, and perspectives for future development.