Josephson junction infrared single-photon detector

The Josephson Junction as a Detector of Microwave

A cryogen-free HTS Josephson junction detector for terahertz imaging

A cryogen-free terahertz (THz) imaging system based on a high-temperature superconducting (HTS) Josephson junction detector is reported. The detector was made of a YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) step-edge Josephson junction and integrated into an on-chip thin-film antenna. The HTS Josephson detector was cooled via a commercial mechanical cryocooler; an important step towards cryogen-free THz instrumentatio...

Nonclassical photon pair production in a voltage-biased Josephson junction.

We investigate electromagnetic radiation emitted by a small voltage-biased Josephson junction connected to a superconducting transmission line. At frequencies below the well-known emission peak at the Josephson frequency (2eV/h), extra radiation is triggered by quantum fluctuations in the transmission line. For weak tunneling couplings and typical Ohmic transmission lines, the corresponding pho...

Near-Infrared Single-Photon Detection

Mid-infrared single-photon counting.

We report a procedure to detect mid-infrared single photons at 4.65 microm by means of a two-stage scheme based on sum-frequency generation, by using a periodically poled lithium niobate nonlinear crystal and a silicon avalanche photodiode. An experimental investigation shows that, in addition to a high timing resolution, this technique yields a detection sensitivity of 1.24 pW with 63 mW of ne...