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IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

Quantum detectors in superconducting YBCO

Nathan Bluzer, Martin G. Forrester

Published Jun 1, 1995• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A superconducting quantum detector structure in YBCO is described with a directly coupled SQUID read out circuit. The detector geometry is optimized for maximum photoresponse with the use of a serpentine pattern. The serpentine pattern reduces quasiparticle diffusion effects and maximizes the photoinduced changes in the kinetic inductance. The operation of this sensor is analyzed in terms of geometry and quasiparticle lifetime to obtain expressions for the signal and noise of this detector. The background limited infrared performance of this detector is calculated to be about 5/spl times/10/sup -17/ NEP. The photoresponse is expected to be limited by the superconducting energy gap, about 30-40 /spl mu/m.>

DOI
10.1109/77.403118

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The European Physical Journal Applied Physics•Feb 27, 2003•48 citations
A superconducting quantum detector structure in YBCO is described with a directly coupled SQUID read out circuit. The detector geometry is optimized for maximum photoresponse with the use of a serpentine pattern. The serpentine pattern reduces quasiparticle diffusion effects and maximizes the photoinduced changes in the kinetic inductance. The operation of this sensor is analyzed in terms of geometry and quasiparticle lifetime to obtain expressions for the signal and noise of this detector. The background limited infrared performance of this detector is calculated to be about 5/spl times/10/sup -17/ NEP. The photoresponse is expected to be limited by the superconducting energy gap, about 30-40 /spl mu/m.>
Analysis of a quantum superconducting kinetic inductance photodetector (QSKIP) structure is presented for operation in a low background environment. We project the QSKIP’s spectral response to be limited by the Cooper pair binding energy, 2Δ or about 32 μm for YBCO. The QSKIP response and sensitivity are computed from the minimum of the Hamiltonian energy functional and linearized Rothwarf–Taylor equations. Photoresponse and sensitivity expressions are computed in terms of the quasiparticle lifetime and indicate background limited infrared performance at very low photon flux levels. At low temperatures and under background limited infrared performance conditions, the photoresponse is proportional to the number of absorbed photons. Operating the QSKIP in the Meissner state and below 50% of the critical current limits the noise sources to fluctuations in the condensate population. With the noise and photoresponse equations, the QSKIP noise equivalent power is computed in terms of the characteristic lifetimes of: quasiparticle generation; quasiparticle recombination; anharmonic phonon decay; and phonon trapping. The calculated noise equivalent power for a YBCO QSKIP is about 2.5×10−15 W/√Hz at 9 K.
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While experimental studies of kinetic-inductance sensors have been limited so far by the temperature range near the superconducting transition, these detectors can be very sensitivity at temperatures well below the transition, where the number of equilibrium quasiparticles is exponentially small. In this regime, a shift of the quasiparticle chemical potential under radiation results in the change of the kinetic inductance, which can be measured by a sensitive SQUID readout. We modeled the kinetic inductance response of detectors made from disordered superconducting Nb, NbC, and MoRe films. Low phonon transparency of the interface between the superconductor and the substrate causes substantial re-trapping of phonons providing high quantum efficiency and the operating time of approximately 1 ms at 1 K. Due to the small number of quasiparticles, the noise equivalent power of the detector determined by the quasiparticle generation-recombination noise can be as small as approximately 10(exp -19) W/Hz(exp 1/2) at He4 temperatures.
While experimental studies of kinetic-inductance sensors have been limited so far by the temperature range near the superconducting transition, these detectors can be very sensitive at temperatures well below the transition, where the number of equilibrium quasiparticles is exponentially small. In this regime, a shift of the quasiparticle chemical potential under radiation results in the change of the kinetic inductance, which can be measured by a sensitive SQUID readout. We modeled the kinetic inductance response of detectors made from disordered superconducting Nb, NbC, and MoRe films. Low phonon transparency of the interface between the superconductor and the substrate causes substantial re-trapping of phonons providing high quantum efficiency and the operating time of ∼1 ms at ≈1 K. Due to the small number of quasiparticles, the noise equivalent power of the detector determined by the quasiparticle generation-recombination noise can be as small as ∼10−19 W/√Hz at He4 temperatures.
The discovery of high-temperature superconductors (HTS) spawned many potential applications, including optical detectors. Realizing viable superconducting detectors requires achieving performance superior to competing and more mature semiconductor detector technologies, and quantum detector technologies in particular. We review why quantum detectors are inherently more sensitive than thermal or bolometric detectors. This sensitivity advantage suggests that for operation at cryogenic temperatures, we should be developing only quantum superconducting detectors. Accordingly, we introduce and describe the structure and the operation of a superconducting quantum detector with a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) readout circuit. The superconducting quantum detector, consisting of a superconducting loop, produces a photosignal in response to photoinduced changes in the superconducting condensate's kinetic inductance. The superconducting quantum detector is designed to operate only in the superconducting state and not in the resistive or transition states.
We analyze the ultimate performance of a superconducting quantum detector in order to meet requirements for applications in near-infrared astronomy and X-ray spectroscopy. The detector exploits a combined detection mechanism, in which avalanche quasiparticle multiplication and the supercurrent jointly produce a voltage response to a single absorbed photon via successive formation of a photon-induced and a current-induced normal hotspot in a narrow superconducting strip. The response time of the detector should increase with the photon energy providing energy resolution. Depending on the superconducting material and operation conditions, the cut-off wavelength for the single-photon detection regime varies from infrared waves to visible light. We simulated the performance of the background-limited infrared direct detector and X-ray photon counter utilizing the above mechanism. Low dark count rate and intrinsic low-frequency cut-off allow for realizing a background limited noise equivalent power of 10−20 W Hz−1/2 for a far-infrared direct detector exposed to 4-K background radiation. At low temperatures, the intrinsic response time of the counter is rather determined by diffusion of nonequilibrium electrons than by the rate of energy transfer to phonons. Therefore, thermal fluctuations do not hamper energy resolution of the X-ray photon counter that should be better than 10−3 for 6-keV photons. Comparison of new data obtained with a Nb based detector and previously reported results on NbN quantum detectors support our estimates of ultimate detector performance.