Mixing Properties of Room Temperature Patch‐Antenna Receivers in a Mid‐Infrared (λ ≈ 9 µm) Heterodyne System

Bigioli, Azzurra; Gacemi, Djamal; Palaferri, Danièle; Todorov, Yanko; Vasanelli, Angela; Suffit, Stéphan; Li, Lianhe; Davies, A. G.; Linfield, Edmund H.; Kapsalidis, Filippos; Beck, Mattias; Faist, Jérôme; Sirtori, Carlo

doi:10.1002/lpor.201900207

Cited by 13 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In the case of QWIPs, a signal up to a frequency of 82 GHz [6] and linear response under laser intensities in the kW/cm 2 range have already been demonstrated. [7] A class of highly sensitive heterodyne receivers in the midinfrared is required today for promoting technological applications and answering fundamental physical questions. This is relevant in observational astronomy [8] and high resolution spectroscopy, already in demand for the development of low-noise and high frequency detection systems.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-wavelength infrared photovoltaic heterodyne receivers using patch-antenna quantum cascade detectors

Bigioli

Armaroli

Vasanelli

et al. 2020

Applied Physics Letters

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Quantum cascade detectors (QCD) are unipolar infrared devices where the transport of the photo excited carriers takes place through confined electronic states, without an applied bias. In this photovoltaic mode, the detector's noise is not dominated by a dark shot noise process, therefore, performances are less degraded at high temperature with respect to photoconductive detectors. This work describes a 9 µm QCD embedded into a patchantenna metamaterial which operates with state-of-theart performances. The metamaterial gathers photons on a collection area, Acoll, much bigger than the geometrical area of the detector, improving the signal to noise ratio up to room temperature. The background-limited detectivity at 83 K is 5.5 x 10 10 cm Hz 1/2 W -1 , while at room temperature, the responsivity is 50 mA/W at 0 V bias. Patch antenna QCD is an ideal receiver for a heterodyne detection set-up, where a signal at a frequency 1.4 GHz and T=295 K is reported as first demonstration of uncooled 9µm photovoltaic receivers with GHz electrical bandwidth. These findings guide the research towards uncooled IR quantum limited detection.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-wavelength infrared photovoltaic heterodyne receivers using patch-antenna quantum cascade detectors

Bigioli

Armaroli

Vasanelli

et al. 2020

Applied Physics Letters

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In this regime, the CSIP devices can be viewed as a single period QCD with an integrated amplifier that can boost the photoconductive gain to an unprecedented level for such types of detectors. Another interesting feature of the CSIPs is that the responsivity is strongly dependent on the incident photon flux; such non-linearities can be further exploited for functions such as mixing [ 33 ]. Furthermore, the compact device architecture of the CSIP can become an asset in all integrated schemes such as the ones reported in Ref.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Auto-Calibrated Charge-Sensitive Infrared Phototransistor at 9.3 µm

Bahrehmand¹,

Gacemi²,

Vasanelli³

et al. 2023

Sensors

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Charge-sensitive infrared photo-transistors (CSIP) are quantum detectors of mid-infrared radiation (λ=4 µm−14 µm) which have been reported to have outstanding figures of merit and sensitivities that allow single photon detection. The typical absorbing region of a CSIP consists of an AlxGa1-xAs quantum heterostructure, where a GaAs quantum well, where the absorption takes place, is followed by a triangular barrier with a graded x(Al) composition that connects the quantum well to a source-drain channel. Here, we report a CSIP designed to work for a 9.3 µm wavelength where the Al composition is kept constant and the triangular barrier is replaced by tunnel-coupled quantum wells. This design is thus conceptually closer to quantum cascade detectors (QCDs) which are an established technology for detection in the mid-infrared range. While previously reported structures use metal gratings in order to couple infrared radiation in the absorbing quantum well, here, we employ a 45° wedge facet coupling geometry that allows a simplified and reliable estimation of the incident photon flux Φ in the device. Remarkably, these detectors have an “auto-calibrated” nature, which enables the precise assessment of the photon flux Φ solely by measuring the electrical characteristics and from knowledge of the device geometry. We identify an operation regime where CSIP detectors can be directly compared to other unipolar quantum detectors such as quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) and QCDs and we estimate the corresponding detector figure of merit under cryogenic conditions. The maximum responsivity R = 720 A/W and a photoconductive gain G~2.7 × 104 were measured, and were an order of magnitude larger than those for QCDs and quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs). We also comment on the benefit of nano-antenna concepts to increase the efficiency of CSIP in the photon-counting regime.

show abstract

“…To overcome the limited speed (<3 GHz) of the HgCdTe detector, the most advanced alternative for the 10 µm spectral range is provided by quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs), and quantum cascade detectors (QCDs) in unbiased mode. Thanks to their unipolar electronic transport (no hole mobility is involved), they can achieve flat responses up to more than 70 GHz [594] and saturation intensity up to kW cm −2 [595] (see figures 40(b)-(d)). A 20 GHz-3 dB QCD for 4.6 µm radiation has entered the market as of 2021.…”

Section: Advances In Science and Technology To Meet Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

2023 Astrophotonics Roadmap: pathways to realizing multi-functional integrated astrophotonic instruments

Jovanovic,

Gatkine,

Anugu

et al. 2023

J. Phys. Photonics

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Photonic technologies offer numerous functionalities that can be used to realize astrophotonic instruments. The most spectacular example to date is the ESO Gravity instrument at the Very Large Telescope in Chile that combines the light-gathering power of four 8-m telescopes through a complex photonic interferometer. Fully integrated astrophotonic devices offer critical advantages for instrument development, including extreme miniaturization when operating at the diffraction-limit, plus integration, superior thermal and mechanical stabilization owing to the small footprint, and high replicability offering significant cost savings. Numerous astrophotonic technologies have been developed to address shortcomings of conventional instruments to date, including the development of photonic lanterns to convert from multimode inputs to single mode outputs, complex aperiodic fiber Bragg gratings to filter OH emission from the atmosphere, beam combiners enabling long baseline interferometry with for example, ESO Gravity, and laser frequency combs for high precision spectral calibration of spectrometers. Despite these successes, the facility implementation of photonic solutions in astronomical instrumentation is currently limited because of 1) low throughputs from coupling to fibers, coupling fibers to chips, propagation and bend losses, device losses, etc., 2) difficulties with scaling to large channel count devices needed for large bandwidths and high resolutions, and 3) efficient integration of photonics with detectors. In this roadmap, we identify 23 key areas that need further development. We outline the challenges and advances needed across those areas covering design tools, simulation capabilities, fabrication processes, the need for entirely new components, integration and hybridization and the characterization of devices. To realize these advances the astrophotonics community will have to work cooperatively with industrial partners who have more advanced manufacturing capabilities. With the advances described herein, multi-functional integrated instruments will be realized leading to novel observing capabilities for both ground and space based platforms, enabling new scientific studies and discoveries.

show abstract

Mixing Properties of Room Temperature Patch‐Antenna Receivers in a Mid‐Infrared (λ ≈ 9 µm) Heterodyne System

Cited by 13 publications

References 26 publications

Long-wavelength infrared photovoltaic heterodyne receivers using patch-antenna quantum cascade detectors

Long-wavelength infrared photovoltaic heterodyne receivers using patch-antenna quantum cascade detectors

Auto-Calibrated Charge-Sensitive Infrared Phototransistor at 9.3 µm

2023 Astrophotonics Roadmap: pathways to realizing multi-functional integrated astrophotonic instruments

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About