122 research outputs found
Broadening of hot-spot response spectrum of superconducting NbN nanowire single-photon detector with reduced nitrogen content
The spectral detection efficiency and the dark count rate of superconducting
nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPD) has been studied systematically on
detectors made from thin NbN films with different chemical compositions.
Reduction of the nitrogen content in the 4 nm thick NbN films results in a more
than two orders of magnitude decrease of the dark count rates and in a red
shift of the cut-off wavelength of the hot-spot SNSPD response. The observed
phenomena are explained by an improvement of uniformity of NbN films that has
been confirmed by a decrease of resistivity and an increase of the ratio of the
measured critical current to the depairing current. The latter factor is
considered as the most crucial for both the cut-off wavelength and the dark
count rates of SNSPD. Based on our results we propose a set of criteria for
material properties to optimize SNSPD in the infrared spectral region.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure
Geometry-induced reduction of the critical current in superconducting nanowires
Reduction of the critical current in narrow superconducting NbN lines with
sharp and rounded bends with respect to the critical current in straight lines
was studied at different temperatures. We compare our experimental results with
the reduction expected in the framework of the London model and the
Ginsburg-Landau model. We have experimentally found that the reduction is
significantly less than either model predicts. We also show that in our NbN
lines the bends mostly contribute to the reduction of the critical current at
temperatures well below the superconducting transition temperature
Ultra-fast data acquisition system for coherent synchrotron radiation with terahertz detectors
Real-Time Dynamic Imaging of Virus Distribution In Vivo
The distribution of viruses and gene therapy vectors is difficult to assess in a living organism. For instance, trafficking in murine models can usually only be assessed after sacrificing the animal for tissue sectioning or extraction. These assays are laborious requiring whole animal sectioning to ascertain tissue localization. They also obviate the ability to perform longitudinal or kinetic studies in one animal. To track viruses after systemic infection, we have labeled adenoviruses with a near-infrared (NIR) fluorophore and imaged these after intravenous injection in mice. Imaging was able to track and quantitate virus particles entering the jugular vein simultaneous with injection, appearing in the heart within 500 milliseconds, distributing in the bloodstream and throughout the animal within 7 seconds, and that the bulk of virus distribution was essentially complete within 3 minutes. These data provide the first in vivo real-time tracking of the rapid initial events of systemic virus infection
Ellipsometric characterization and density-functional theory analysis of anisotropic optical properties of single-crystal α-SnS
A Single-Photon Imager Based on Microwave Plasmonic Superconducting Nanowire
Detecting spatial and temporal information of individual photons by using
single-photon-detector (SPD) arrays is critical to applications in
spectroscopy, communication, biological imaging, astronomical observation, and
quantum-information processing. Among the current SPDs1,detectors based on
superconducting nanowires have outstanding performance2, but are limited in
their ability to be integrated into large scale arrays due to the engineering
difficulty of high-bandwidth cryogenic electronic readout3-8. Here, we address
this problem by demonstrating a scalable single-photon imager using a single
continuous photon-sensitive superconducting nanowire microwave-plasmon
transmission line. By appropriately designing the nanowire's local
electromagnetic environment so that the nanowire guides microwave plasmons, the
propagating voltages signals generated by a photon-detection event were slowed
down to ~ 2% of the speed of light. As a result, the time difference between
arrivals of the signals at the two ends of the nanowire naturally encoded the
position and time of absorption of the photon. Thus, with only two readout
lines, we demonstrated that a 19.7-mm-long nanowire meandered across an area of
286 {\mu}m * 193 {\mu}m was capable of resolving ~590 effective pixels while
simultaneously recording the arrival times of photons with a temporal
resolution of 50 ps. The nanowire imager presents a scalable approach to
realizing high-resolution photon imaging in time and space
Studies of Bunch-bunch Interactions in the ANKA Storage Ring with Coherent Synchrotron Radiation using an Ultra-fast Terahertz Detection System
In the low-alpha operation mode of the ANKA synchrotron light source, coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) is emitted from short electron bunches. Depending on the bunch current, the radiation shows bursts of high intensity. These bursts of high intensity THz radiation display a time evolution which can be observed only on long time scales with respect to the revolution period. In addition, long range wake fields can introduce a correlation between the bunches within a bunch train and thus modify the observed behaviour. A novel detection system consisting of an ultra-fast superconducting THz detector and data acquisition system was used to investigate correlations visible on the bursting pattern and to study the interactions of very short pulses in the ANKA storage ring
- …