Phonon Noise Research Articles

Fast and sensitive bolometric terahertz detection at room temperature through thermomechanical transduction

Terahertz (THz) electromagnetic spectrum draws wide attention for nondestructive and/or biocompatible sensing. In order to be widely applicable to the THz sensing, it is of prime importance to develop THz sensors that can be operated at room temperature and have high sensitivity and fast operation speed. However, conventional room-temperature THz thermal sensors fall short of expectations in these characteristics required in various applications of THz sensing, including THz cameras. Utilizing a thermomechanical transduction scheme, we have developed an uncooled, sensitive, and fast THz bolometer by using a doubly clamped GaAs microelectromechanical system (MEMS) beam resonator as a sensitive thermistor. Owing to its ultrahigh temperature sensitivity (the noise equivalent temperature difference of ∼1 μK/√Hz), the present bolometer achieves not only high sensitivity but also an operation bandwidth of several kHz, which is more than 100 times faster than other uncooled THz thermal sensors. The obtained electrical noise equivalent power is as low as ∼90 pW/√Hz, which is close to the limit set by the thermal fluctuation noise. The MEMS bolometers are fabricated by the standard semiconductor fabrication processes and are well suited for making detector arrays for realizing THz cameras.

Purcell enhancement of the parametric down-conversion in two-dimensional nonlinear materials

Ultracompact nonlinear optical devices utilizing two-dimensional (2D) materials and nanostructures are emerging as important elements of photonic circuits. Integration of the nonlinear material into a subwavelength cavity or waveguide leads to a strong Purcell enhancement of the nonlinear processes and compensates for a small interaction volume. The generic feature of such devices which makes them especially challenging for analysis is strong dissipation of both the nonlinear polarization and highly confined modes of a subwavelength cavity. Here we solve a quantum-electrodynamic problem of the spontaneous and stimulated parametric down-conversion in a nonlinear quasi-2D waveguide or cavity. We develop a rigorous Heisenberg-Langevin approach which includes dissipation and fluctuations in the electron ensemble and in the electromagnetic field of a cavity on equal footing. Within a relatively simple model, we take into account the nonlinear coupling of the quantized cavity modes, their interaction with a dissipative reservoir and the outside world, amplification of thermal noise and zero-point fluctuations of the electromagnetic field, and other relevant effects. We derive closed-form analytic results for relevant quantities such as the spontaneous parametric signal power and the threshold for parametric instability. We find a strong reduction in the parametric instability threshold for 2D nonlinear materials in a subwavelength cavity and provide a comparison with conventional nonlinear photonic devices.

Relaxation times for chiral transport phenomena and spin polarization in a strongly coupled plasma

We compute the dynamical relaxation times for chiral transport phenomena in strongly coupled regime using the AdS/CFT correspondence. These relaxation times can be a useful proxy for the dynamical time scale for achieving equilibrium spin-polarization of quasi-particles in the presence of magnetic field and fluid vorticity. We identify the Kubo relations for these relaxation times and clarify some previous issues regarding time-dependence of the Chiral Vortical Effect. We study the consequences of imposing time-reversal invariance on parity-odd thermal noise fluctuations that are related to chiral transport coefficients by the fluctuation-dissipation relation. We find that time-reversal invariance dictates the equality between some of the chiral transport coefficients as well as their relaxation times.

Characteristics of signal propagation in multiferroic majority logic gates subjected to thermal noise

The error rates of multiferroic majority logic gate (MLG) in the presence of thermal noise fluctuation are evaluated via solving the Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert equations. It is found that in the pre-stress condition, magnetisation orientations of nanomagnets in the MLG denote an initial 4°–10° departure from the easy axis direction due to random thermal noise field. This phenomenon may be the main origin of switching errors of multiferroic logic gates at high temperature. Specifically, in the post-stress condition, it has been seen that larger spacing between nanomagnets leads to a high error rate, up to 50%, which arises from weak dipolar coupling interactions and strong thermal fluctuations. However, opposed to their expected, small spacing between nanomagnets leads to a higher error rate, up to 90%, which mainly arises from spontaneous magnetisation reversal induced by weak stress anisotropy energy. Therefore, moderate spacing is very important to MLG switching at room temperature, for example the optimal spacing is 250–310 nm for MLG constructed with nanomagnets having shape anisotropy energy of 623 kT. These findings can provide guides on multiferroic logic circuit design.

Quantum squeezing in a modulated optomechanical system.

Quantum squeezing, as a typical quantum effect, is an important resource for many applications in quantum technologies. Here we propose a scheme for generating quantum squeezing, including the ponderomotive squeezing and the mechanical squeezing, in an optomechanical system, in which the radiation-pressure coupling and the mechanical spring constant are modulated periodically. In this system, the radiation-pressure interaction can be enhanced remarkably by the modulation-induced mechanical parametric amplification. Moreover, the effective phonon noise can be suppressed completely by introducing a squeezed vacuum reservoir. This ultimately leads to that our scheme can achieve a controllable quantum squeezing. Numerical calculations show that our scheme is experimentally realizable with current technologies.

Stochastic IMT (Insulator-Metal-Transition) Neurons: An Interplay of Thermal and Threshold Noise at Bifurcation.

Artificial neural networks can harness stochasticity in multiple ways to enable a vast class of computationally powerful models. Boltzmann machines and other stochastic neural networks have been shown to outperform their deterministic counterparts by allowing dynamical systems to escape local energy minima. Electronic implementation of such stochastic networks is currently limited to addition of algorithmic noise to digital machines which is inherently inefficient; albeit recent efforts to harness physical noise in devices for stochasticity have shown promise. To succeed in fabricating electronic neuromorphic networks we need experimental evidence of devices with measurable and controllable stochasticity which is complemented with the development of reliable statistical models of such observed stochasticity. Current research literature has sparse evidence of the former and a complete lack of the latter. This motivates the current article where we demonstrate a stochastic neuron using an insulator-metal-transition (IMT) device, based on electrically induced phase-transition, in series with a tunable resistance. We show that an IMT neuron has dynamics similar to a piecewise linear FitzHugh-Nagumo (FHN) neuron and incorporates all characteristics of a spiking neuron in the device phenomena. We experimentally demonstrate spontaneous stochastic spiking along with electrically controllable firing probabilities using Vanadium Dioxide (VO2) based IMT neurons which show a sigmoid-like transfer function. The stochastic spiking is explained by two noise sources - thermal noise and threshold fluctuations, which act as precursors of bifurcation. As such, the IMT neuron is modeled as an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (OU) process with a fluctuating boundary resulting in transfer curves that closely match experiments. The moments of interspike intervals are calculated analytically by extending the first-passage-time (FPT) models for Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (OU) process to include a fluctuating boundary. We find that the coefficient of variation of interspike intervals depend on the relative proportion of thermal and threshold noise, where threshold noise is the dominant source in the current experimental demonstrations. As one of the first comprehensive studies of a stochastic neuron hardware and its statistical properties, this article would enable efficient implementation of a large class of neuro-mimetic networks and algorithms.

12−μm -Pitch Electromechanical Resonator for Thermal Sensing

We provide here a demonstration of 12-mu m-pitch nanoelectromechanical resonant infrared sensors with fully integrated capacitive transduction. A low-temperature fabrication process is used to manufacture torsional resonator arrays. An H-shaped pixel with 9-mu m-long nanorods and (250 x 30)-nm(2) cross section is designed to provide high thermal response whose experimental measurements reach up to 1024 Hz/nW. A mechanical dynamic range of over 113 dB is obtained, which leads to an Allan deviation of sigma(A) = 3 x 10(-7) at room temperature and 50-Hz noise bandwidth (sigma(A) = 1.5 x 10(-7) over 10 Hz). These features allow us to reach a sensitivity of (8-12)-mu m radiation of 27 pW/root Hz leading to a noise-equivalent temperature difference (NETD) of 2 K for a 50-Hz noise bandwidth (NETD = 1.5 K at 10 Hz). We demonstrate that the resolution is no more set by the phonon noise but by the anomalous phase noise already encountered in flexural nanoresonators. By both improving the temperature coefficient of frequency of a factor 10 and using a readout electronics at the pixel level, these resonators will lead to a breakthrough for uncooled infrared detectors. We expect that the NETD will rapidly drop to 180 mK with electronics close to the pixel. As a result of the features of our torsional resonators, an alternative readout scheme of pixels is suggested.

Microwave SQUID Multiplexer Demonstration for Cosmic Microwave Background Imagers.

Key performance characteristics are demonstrated for the microwave SQUID multiplexer (µmux) coupled to transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers that have been optimized for cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations. In a 64-channel demonstration, we show that the µmux produces a white, input referred current noise level of [Formula: see text] at -77 dB microwave probe tone power, which is well below expected fundamental detector and photon noise sources for a ground-based CMB-optimized bolometer. Operated with negligible photon loading, we measure [Formula: see text] in the TES-coupled channels biased at 65% of the sensor normal resistance. This noise level is consistent with that predicted from bolometer thermal fluctuation (i.e. phonon) noise. Furthermore, the power spectral density is white over a range of frequencies down to ~ 100 mHz, which enables CMB mapping on large angular scales that constrain the physics of inflation. Additionally, we report cross-talk measurements that indicate a level below 0.3%, which is less than the level of cross-talk from multiplexed readout systems in deployed CMB imagers. These measurements demonstrate the µmux as a viable readout technique for future CMB imaging instruments.

Thermal elastic-wave attenuation in low-dimensional SiNx bars at low temperatures

At low temperatures, <200 mK, the thermal flux through low-dimensional amorphous dielectric bars, <2 μm wide and 200 nm thick, is transported by a small number of low-order elastic modes. For long bars, L > 400 μm, it is known that the conductance scales as 1/L, where L is the length, but for short bars, 1 μm < L < 400 μm, the length dependence is poorly known. Although it is assumed that the transport must exhibit a diffusive to ballistic transition, the functional form of the transition and the scale size over which the transition occurs have not, to our knowledge, been measured. In this paper, we use ultra-low-noise superconducting Transition Edge Sensors to measure the heat flux through a set of SiNx bars to establish the characteristic scale size of the ballistic to diffusive transition. For bars supporting 6 to 7 modes, we measure a thermal elastic-wave attenuation length of 20 μm. The measurement is important because it sheds light on the scattering processes, which in turn are closely related to the generation of thermal fluctuation noise. Our own interest lies in creating patterned phononic filters for controlling heat flow and thermal noise in ultra-low-noise devices, but the work will be of interest to others trying to isolate devices from their environments and studying loss mechanisms in micro-mechanical resonators.

Geometry dependence of temperature coefficient of resonant frequency in highly sensitive resonant thermal sensors

In this paper, the geometry dependence of the temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (TCRF) is investigated and compared with a theoretical thermal stress change using Si mechanical microresonators. The used resonators have Y, T, I (conventional double-supported type) and arrow shapes, and in each shape the resonant frequency change of the resonator is measured in relation to changes in the amount of heat input to the resonator. The change trend in the experimental resonant frequency and the theoretical thermal stress in changing the temperature are consist. The TCRF in each resonator is Y: −653, T: −162, I: −417, and the arrow is 174 ppm/K. These absolute values are much higher than those of conventional cantilevered Si resonators (−34.9 ppm/K). In addition, the frequency fluctuations based on Allan deviation are experimentally evaluated considering the theoretical thermal fluctuation noise. It is considered that use of this technique to improve the TCRF of resonators by changing the geometry has the possibility of creating a sensor with highly sensitive thermal detection.

Compensation of nonlinear hardening effect in a nanoelectromechanical torsional resonator

A mechanical resonator based on torsional resonance has been fabricated in our facilities to sense infrared radiation. Actuation and detection are both electrostatic. Reaching phonon noise is highly desirable in order to get low noise uncooled infrared detectors. Therefore a high dynamic range has to be reached to increase as much as possible the overall signal to noise ratio and minimize the contribution of amplitudes noises (thermomechanical or electrical) to frequency noise. The dimensions of resonator body are similar to most clamped-clamped NEMS and our devices are thus also greatly affected by nonlinearities. We present here a nonlinear model for mechanical behavior around fundamental mode resonance taking account of both mechanical and electrostatic nonlinearities. The model correctly reproduces the nonlinear behavior observed for different resonator designs. We experimentally observe on some devices a compensation of hardening effects, allowing a linear operation of torsion angle up to 13°. The model provided in this work allows an engineering strategy in order to design high linear dynamic range for fundamental torsional mode.

Demonstration of a Pixel-Scale Superconducting Heat Switch for an Ideal Integrating Bolometer

The sensitivity of a bolometer is in principle limited by the phonon noise, which is a function of the conductance between its absorber and the thermal sink. However, practical issues limit the degree to which conductance can be minimized. For example, in a high-radiation environment, extremely low conductance, or, equivalently, long thermal recovery time, can lead to high data loss. To circumvent such limitations, we are developing a technique of modulating the conductance through the use of pixel-scale superconducting heat switches. We have fabricated bolometer-like test devices consisting of isolated regions connected to a thermal ground plane through narrow aluminum strips. Niobium coils are patterned around the aluminum strips. Flowing current through a coil allows the aluminum to be driven into the normal or high thermal conductance state. We have measured the conductance of these devices as a function of temperature and drive coil current.

Nonlinear effects in modulated quantum optomechanics

The nonlinear quantum regime is crucial for implementing interesting quantum effects, which have wide applications in modern quantum science. Here we propose an effective method to reach the nonlinear quantum regime in a modulated optomechanical system (OMS), which is originally in the weak-coupling regime. The mechanical spring constant and optomechanical interaction are modulated periodically. This leads to the result that the resonant optomechanical interaction can be effectively enhanced into the single-photon strong-coupling regime by the modulation-induced mechanical parametric amplification. Moreover, the amplified phonon noise can be suppressed completely by introducing a squeezed vacuum reservoir, which ultimately leads to the realization of photon blockade in a weakly coupled OMS. The reached nonlinear quantum regime also allows us to engineer the nonclassical states (e.g., Schr\"{o}dinger cat states) of cavity field, which are robust against the phonon noise. This work offers an alternative approach to enhance the quantum nonlinearity of an OMS, which should expand the applications of cavity optomechanics in the quantum realm.

Quantum efficiency of a single microwave photon detector based on a semiconductor double quantum dot

Motivated by recent interest in implementing circuit quantum electrodynamics with semiconducting quantum dots, we consider a double quantum dot (DQD) capacitively coupled to a superconducting resonator that is driven by the microwave field of a superconducting transmission line. We analyze the DQD current response using input-output theory and show that the resonator-coupled DQD is a sensitive microwave single photon detector. Using currently available experimental parameters of DQD-resonator coupling and dissipation, including the effects of $1/f$ charge noise and phonon noise, we determine the parameter regime for which incident photons are completely absorbed and near unit $\gtrsim$ 98\% efficiency can be achieved. We show that this regime can be reached by using very high quality resonators with quality factor $Q\simeq 10^5$.

Development of a Superconducting Heat Switch for an Ideal Integrating Bolometer

Improving the sensitivity of current state-of-the-art bolometers is essential for future cosmology endeavors. Having a bolometer that is thermally isolated from its thermal sink is ideal in order to reduce phonon noise: the factor limiting bolometer sensitivity. To thermally isolate a bolometer as much as possible a pixel-scale superconducting heat switch is being developed to control the conductance between a bolometer and its thermal sink. The heat switch is comprised of a superconducting thin aluminum film surrounded by a niobium coil. Current is passed through the coil and the resulting magnetic field drives the aluminum into its high conductance normal state. Experimental data agrees well with the results of a thermal model of the device. Â

Extreme fluctuations of active Brownian motion

In active Brownian motion, an internal propulsion mechanism interacts with translational and rotational thermal noise and other internal fluctuations to produce directed motion. We derive the distribution of its extreme fluctuations and identify its universal properties using large deviation theory. The limits of slow and fast internal dynamics give rise to a kink-like and parabolic behavior of the corresponding rate functions, respectively. For dipolar Janus particles in two- and three-dimensions interacting with a field, we predict a novel symmetry akin to, but different from, the one related to entropy production. Measurements of these extreme fluctuations could thus be used to infer properties of the underlying, often hidden, network of states.

A Hamiltonian treatment of stimulated Brillouin scattering in nanoscale integrated waveguides

We present a multimode Hamiltonian formulation for the problem of opto-acoustic interactions in optical waveguides. We develop a quantised Hamiltonian representation of the acoustic field and then introduce a full system with a simple opto-acoustic coupling that includes both photoelastic/electrostrictive and radiation pressure/moving boundary effects in a particularly transparent manner. The interaction is applied to a Fermi's golden rule calculation of spontaneous Brillouin scattering in uniform waveguides. The Heisenberg equations of motion are then used to obtain coupled mode equations for quantised envelope operators for the optical and acoustic fields. We show that the coupling coefficients obtained coincide with those established earlier. Our formalism provides a new basis for future work involving quantum photon and phonon noise in the low intensity limit, phonon–phonon scattering and anharmonicity effects.

Development of Ultra-Low-Noise TES Bolometer Arrays

SRON is developing ultra-low-noise transition edge sensors (TESs) based on a superconducting Ti/Au bilayer on a suspended SiN island with SiN legs for SAFARI aboard SPICA. We have two major concerns about realizing TESs with an ultra-low NEP of \(2\times 10^{-19}~\hbox {W}/\sqrt{{\text {Hz}}}\): achieving lower thermal conductance and no excess noise with respect to the phonon noise. To realize TESs with phonon-noise-limited NEPs, we need to make thinner (\({<}0.25~\upmu \hbox {m}\)) and narrower (\({<}1~\upmu \hbox {m}\)) SiN legs. With deep reactive-ion etching, three types of TESs were fabricated in combination with different SiN island sizes and the presence or absence of an optical absorber. Those TESs have a thin \((0.20~\upmu \hbox {m}\)), narrow (0.5–0.7 \(\upmu \hbox {m}\)), and long (340–460 \(\upmu \hbox {m}\)) SiN legs and show \(T_{\mathrm {c}}\) of \({\sim }93~\hbox {mK}\) and \(R_{\mathrm {n}}\) of \({\sim }158~\hbox {m}{\Omega }\). These TESs were characterized under AC bias using our frequency-division multiplexing readout (1–3 MHz) system. TESs without the absorber show NEPs as low as \(1.1\,\times \,10^{-19}~\hbox {W}/\sqrt{{\text {Hz}}}\) with a reasonable response speed (\({<}1~\hbox {ms}\)), which achieved the phonon noise limit. For TESs with the absorber, we confirmed a higher \(\hbox {NEP}_{\mathrm {el}} ({\sim }5\,\times \,10^{-19}~\hbox {W}/\sqrt{{\text {Hz}}}\)) than that of TESs without the absorber likely due to stray light. The lowest NEP can make the new version of SAFARI with a grating spectrometer feasible.

Nonlinear optomechanical paddle nanocavities

Nonlinear optomechanical coupling is the basis for many potential future experiments in quantum optomechanics (e.g., quantum non-demolition measurements, preparation of non-classical states), which to date have been difficult to realize due to small non-linearity in typical optomechanical devices. Here we introduce an optomechanical system combining strong nonlinear optomechanical coupling, low mass and large optical mode spacing. This nanoscale "paddle nanocavity" supports mechanical resonances with hundreds of fg mass which couple nonlinearly to optical modes with a quadratic optomechanical coupling coefficient $g^{(2)} > 2\pi\times400$ MHz/nm$^2$, and a two phonon to single photon optomechanical coupling rate $\Delta \omega_0 > 2\pi\times 16$ Hz. This coupling relies on strong phonon-photon interactions in a structure whose optical mode spectrum is highly non--degenerate. Nonlinear optomechanical readout of thermally driven motion in these devices should be observable for T $> 50 $ mK, and measurement of phonon shot noise is achievable. This shows that strong nonlinear effects can be realized without relying on coupling between nearly degenerate optical modes, thus avoiding parasitic linear coupling present in two mode systems.

Electrothermal model of kinetic inductance detectors

An electrothermal model of kinetic inductance detectors is described. The non-equilibrium state of the resonator's quasiparticle system is characterized by an effective temperature, which because of readout-power heating is higher than that of the bath. By balancing the flow of energy into the quasiparticle system, it is possible to calculate the steady-state large-signal, small-signal and noise behaviour. Resonance-curve distortion and hysteretic switching appear naturally within the framework. It is shown that an electrothermal feedback process exists, which affects all aspects of behaviour. It is also shown that generation-recombination noise can be interpreted in terms of the thermal fluctuation noise in the effective thermal conductance that links the quasiparticle and phonon systems of the resonator. Because the scheme is based on electrothermal considerations, multiple elements can be added to simulate the behaviour of complex devices, such as resonators on membranes, again taking into account readout power heating.