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IEEE International Superconductive Electronics Conference (ISEC)

Observation of Photon Noise by a Parallel-Series Array of Cold-Electron Bolometers

Anna V. Gordeeva, V. O. Zbrozhek, A. L. Pankratov, L. S. Revin, V. S. Shamporov, Aleksandra A. Gunbina, L. S. Kuzmin

Published Jun 1, 2017• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The quasioptical qualification of cold-electron bolometers (CEB) operated in the cross-slot antenna at 350GHz, are presented. The photon noise observation by a parallel/series array of CEBs is demonstrated for power loads of the order of 1 pW. The experimental results have been fitted to theoretical model with two heat-balance equations for the absorber and for superconducting electrodes. The measured noise has been decomposed into several terms with the help of theory. It is demonstrated that the photon noise exceeds any other noise components at some voltage range, that allows us to conclude that the bolometers see the photon noise. A shape of the noise dependence on the bolometer voltage originates from the photonic component according to the theory. In the additional experiment on heating of the sample holder the photonic component is almost absent and the total noise is lower, proving the presence of the photon noise in the first experiment.

DOI
10.1109/isec.2017.8314228

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Superconductor Science and Technology•Jul 4, 2013•4 citations
The quasioptical qualification of cold-electron bolometers (CEB) operated in the cross-slot antenna at 350GHz, are presented. The photon noise observation by a parallel/series array of CEBs is demonstrated for power loads of the order of 1 pW. The experimental results have been fitted to theoretical model with two heat-balance equations for the absorber and for superconducting electrodes. The measured noise has been decomposed into several terms with the help of theory. It is demonstrated that the photon noise exceeds any other noise components at some voltage range, that allows us to conclude that the bolometers see the photon noise. A shape of the noise dependence on the bolometer voltage originates from the photonic component according to the theory. In the additional experiment on heating of the sample holder the photonic component is almost absent and the total noise is lower, proving the presence of the photon noise in the first experiment.
We have observed the photon noise by measuring a response to the black body 350 GHz radiation and noise of the cold-electron bolometers (CEBs). The experimental results have been fit to the theoretical model of CEBs with two heat-balance equations. The measured noise has been decomposed into several terms with the help of theory. It is demonstrated that the photon noise exceeds any other noise components, which allows us to conclude that the bolometers measure the photon noise. Moreover, a peculiar shape of the noise dependence on the absorbed power originates completely from the photonic component according to the theory. In the additional experiment on heating of the cryostat plate together with the sample holder, we have observed the near independence of the noise on the electron temperature of the absorber, which has provided another proof of the presence of the photon noise in the first experiment. The least ratio between internal and photon noise equivalent powers, observed in our experiments, is 1.1 for the absorbed power of 1–2 pW.
Two series/parallel arrays of ten cold-electron bolometers with superconductor-insulator-normal tunnel junctions were integrated in orthogonal ports of a cross-slot antenna. To increase the dynamic range of the receiver, all single bolometers in an array are connected in parallel for the microwave signal by capacitive coupling. To increase the output response, bolometers are connected in series for dc bias. With the measured voltage-to-temperature response of 8.8 μV/mK, absorber volume of 0.08 μm3, and output noise of about 10 nV/Hz1/2, we estimated the dark electrical noise equivalent power (NEP) as NEP = 6 * 10-18W/Hz1/2. The optical response down to NEP = 2 * 10-17W/Hz1/2was measured using a hot/cold load as a radiation source and a sample temperature down to 100 mK. The fluctuation sensitivity to the radiation source temperature is 1.3 * 10-4K/Hz1/2. A dynamic range over 43 dB was measured using a backward-wave oscillator, a variable polarization grid attenuator, and cold filters/attenuators.
A novel concept of the parallel/series array of Cold-Electron Bolometers (CEB) with Superconductor-Insulator-Normal (SIN) Tunnel Junctions has been proposed for matching with JFET readout. The current-biased CEBs are connected in series for DC and in parallel for HF signal. A signal is concentrated to the absorber through the capacitance of tunnel junctions and additional capacitance for coupling of superconducting islands. Due to dividing power between CEBs in the array and increasing responsivity, the noise matching could be effectively optimized and the photon Noise Equivalent Power could be easily achieved at 300 mK with a room temperature JFET readout.
We have developed a single-pixel capacitively coupled Cold-Electron Bolometer (CEB) and characterized it in the current-biased regime. The most attractive feature of the CEB is effective electron self-cooling of the absorber, which leads to a lower bolometer noise and higher dynamic range. The bolometer responsivity was measured by determining the voltage response to an applied power through the absorber from a heating current, modulated at frequencies from 35 Hz to 2 kHz. The optimum responsivity of 1.5 × 1010 V/W was measured at a modulation frequency of 35 Hz. The noise equivalent power (NEP) was subsequently obtained from the estimated bolometer noise voltage with respect to the measured bolometer responsivity. The NEP of better 2 × 10−18 W/Hz1/2 was obtained for modulation frequencies greater than 100 Hz. The background power and the bolometer time constant were also estimated from the experimental results. The photon-noise-limited operation of CEB will dominate for a signal power of 10 fW and higher at frequency 80 GHz and higher.
In this paper, we present the measurements of optical response dependence on power load of a Cold Electron Bolometer integrated in a twin slot antenna. These measurements are also compared to the models of the bolometer limit and the photon counter limit. The responsivity of 0.22*109V/W was measured at 0.22 pW radiation power from a black body at 3.5 K. According to our estimations, for optimized device the voltage responsivity at 100 mK electron temperature can approach S v = 1010V/W for power load below 0.1 pW and decreases down to 107V/W at 300 mK for 5 pW signal power in a sample with absorber volume of 5*10-20m3. In the case of low bath temperatures and high applied RF power the changes of tunneling current, dynamic resistance and voltage response are explained by non-thermal energy distribution of excited electrons. Distribution of excited electrons in such system at lower temperatures can be of non-Fermi type, hot electrons with energies of the order of 1 K tunnel from normal metal absorber to superconductor instead of relaxing down to thermal energy kTein absorber before tunneling. This effect can reduce quantum efficiency of the bolometer at 350 GHz from η = hf/kTph> 100 in ideal case down to single electron per absorbed photon ( η = 1) in the high power case. Methods of preserving high quantum efficiency are discussed.
We present experimental results on the testing of cold-electron bolometer (CEB) detectors comprised of a thin Ti film absorber and two SIN junctions integrated with a planar antenna. The CEB performance was tested in a He-3 sorption cryostat HELIOX-AC-V at bath temperatures of 280-305 mK. The optical response was measured using the hot/cold load method by flipping a Cu reflector opposite a blackbody surface inside a 3 K shield and using a thermal source with variable temperature. In the first experiment, the detector chip was mounted in an optical sample-holder whose aperture was switched towards or away from a blackbody source changing the incident radiation temperature from 3 K to 270 mK. As a result, we measured the optical response to a 3 K/270 mK radiation temperature change. The measured voltage response value for the detector integrated in a double-dipole antenna was Delta V-out = 120 mu V. This corresponds to a noise equivalent power of NEP = V-n/(dV/dP) = 3.5 x 10(-17) W Hz(-1/2), where dV/dP is the voltage to power response obtained from the incoming power estimation based on the Planck formula.