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IEEE Transactions on Magnetics

Noise model for the superconducting-base semiconductor-isolated transistor

A. Davidson, David J. Frank

Published Mar 1, 1989• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A simple noise model for bipolar transistors is adapted to the superconducting base semiconductor isolated transistor (SUBSIT). The model includes two statistically independent shot noise current sources in a lumped element model. For the case where the emitter of the SUBSIT is a normal metal, it is shown that the bipolar model carries over intact. For a SUBSIT with a superconducting emitter as well as base, the noise performance improves tremendously, due to the sharper turn-on characteristic. Noise temperatures in the milli-Kelvin regime are possible, and the energy resolution is likely to be quantum-limited.>

DOI
10.1109/20.92529

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A simple noise model for bipolar transistors is adapted to the superconducting base semiconductor isolated transistor (SUBSIT). The model includes two statistically independent shot noise current sources in a lumped element model. For the case where the emitter of the SUBSIT is a normal metal, it is shown that the bipolar model carries over intact. For a SUBSIT with a superconducting emitter as well as base, the noise performance improves tremendously, due to the sharper turn-on characteristic. Noise temperatures in the milli-Kelvin regime are possible, and the energy resolution is likely to be quantum-limited.>
It is shown that the noise-limited charge sensitivity of a single-electron transistor using superconductors (of either SISIS- or NISIN-type) operating near the threshold of quasiparticle tunneling, can be considerably higher than that of a similar transistor made of normal metals or semiconductors. The reason is that the superconducting energy gap, in contrast to the Coulomb blockade, is not smeared by the finite temperature. We also discuss the increase of the maximum operation temperature due to superconductivity and the peaklike features on the I–V curve of SISIS structures.
We analyze the current and zero-frequency current noise properties of a superconducting single-electron transistor (SSET) coupled to a resonator, focusing on the regime where the SSET is operated in the vicinity of the Josephson quasiparticle resonance. We consider a range of coupling strengths and resonator frequencies to reflect the fact that in practice the system can be tuned to quite a high degree with the resonator formed either by a nanomechanical oscillator or a superconducting stripline fabricated in close proximity to the SSET. For very weak couplings the SSET acts on the resonator like an effective thermal bath. In this regime the current characteristics of the SSET are only weakly modified by the resonator. Using a mean-field approach, we show that the current noise is nevertheless very sensitive to the correlations between the resonator and the SSET charge. For stronger couplings, the SSET can drive the resonator into limit-cycle states where self-sustained oscillation occurs and we find that regions of well-defined bistability exist. Dynamical transitions into and out of the limit-cycle state are marked by strong fluctuations in the resonator energy, but these fluctuations are suppressed within the limit-cycle state. We find that the current noise of the SSET is strongly influenced by the fluctuations in the resonator energy and hence should provide a useful indicator of the resonator's dynamics.
We report on the noise of a lumped element direct current superconducting quantum interference device amplifier. We show that the noise temperature in the 4–8 GHz range over ranges of tens of megahertz is below 1 K (three photons of added noise), characterize the overall behavior of the noise as a function of bias parameters, and discuss potential mechanisms which determine the noise performance in this amplifier. We show that this device can provide more than a factor of 10 improvement in practical system noise over existing phase-preserving microwave measurement systems in this frequency band.
Advantage of superconducting photon detectors is a much lower noise in comparison to semiconductor counterparts. The purpose of the present work is to advance understanding of the physics of noises in a superconducting nanostructures. We have studied the rate and spectrum of dark counts of an 80-nm wide, 5-nm thick superconducting NbN meander-line and analyzed experimental data considering various noise mechanisms: quantum phase-slips, discrete thermodynamic fluctuations of the superconducting order parameter, and topological fluctuations in the two-dimensional vortex gas. The latter mechanism, i.e. Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition, is the only one adequately describing the observed noise performance. Besides that, this approach provides clear explanation of the peculiarities of the resistive transition. The other two mechanisms would result in a much stronger current and temperature dependence of the dark count rate than the experiment shows. Basing on our understanding of the noise source, we propose a novel concept of a superconductor submillimeter direct detector. The detector operates in the superconducting state and utilizes current-dependent high-frequency electrical noise that changes under irradiation. The novel aspect is the use of the noise, which generally hampers the performance of conventional detectors, as the physical quantity that itself senses radiation. Predicted noise-equivalent power is 10_-13 W Hz_-1/2 at 4 K and should improve at lower temperatures.
We investigated and optimized the low-frequency noise characteristics of a preamplifier used for readout of direct current superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). When the SQUID output was detected directly using a room-temperature low-voltage-noise preamplifier, the low-frequency noise of a SQUID system was found to be dominated by the input current noise of the preamplifiers in case of a large dynamic resistance of the SQUID. To reduce the current noise of the preamplifier in the low-frequency range, we investigated the dependence of total preamplifier noise on the collector current and source resistance. When the collector current was decreased from 8.4 mA to 3 mA in the preamplifier made of 3 parallel SSM2220 transistor pairs, the low-frequency total voltage noise of the preamplifier (at 0.1 Hz) decreased by about 3 times for a source resistance of 30 Ω whereas the white noise level remained nearly unchanged. Since the relative contribution of preamplifier's input voltage and current noise is different depending on the dynamic resistance or flux-to-voltage transfer of the SQUID, the results showed that the total noise of a SQUID system at low-frequency range can be improved significantly by optimizing the preamplifier circuit parameters, mainly the collector current in case of low-noise bipolar transistor pairs.
A new design for a multi-terminal superconducting transistor-like device exploiting tunnelling injection of quasiparticles is proposed, in which parasitic back-action of the acceptor junction (S1IS2) bias current on the injector junction (S2FIS3) current–voltage characteristic (CVC) is dramatically reduced as compared with that for the formerly reported quiteron (here S, I, and F denote a superconductor, an insulator and a ferromagnetic material). Improvement of the isolation is achieved owing to the short electron mean free path and short coherence length in a thin F layer that screens the superconducting energy gap in the perturbed S2 layer preventing its manifestation in the CVC of the injector.