Detecting Single Photons with Graphene-Based Josephson Junctions
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Detecting Single Photons with Graphene-Based Josephson Junctions The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Walsh, Evan Daniel. 2020. Detecting Single Photons with Graphene- Based Josephson Junctions. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Citable link https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37368983 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA HARVARD UNIVERSITY Graduate School of Arts and Sciences DISSERTATION ACCEPTANCE CERTIFICATE The undersigned, appointed by the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have examined a dissertation entitled: “Detecting Single Photons with Graphene-Based Josephson Junctions” presented by: Evan Daniel Walsh Signature __________________________________________ Typed name: Professor P. Kim Signature __________________________________________ Typed name: Dr. K. C. Fong Signature __________________________________________ Typed name: Professor D. Ham Signature __________________________________________ Typed name: Professor D. Englund October 2, 2020 Detecting Single Photons with Graphene-Based Josephson Junctions a dissertation presented by Evan Daniel Walsh to The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of Applied Physics Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts October 2020 ©2020 – Evan Daniel Walsh all rights reserved. Dissertation Advisor: Professor Dirk Englund Evan Daniel Walsh Detecting Single Photons with Graphene-Based Josephson Junctions Abstract In this work I present theory, modeling, and experimentation demonstrating that the graphene-based Joseph- son junction (GJJ) is a capable system for the detection of single photons across the electromagnetic spectrum, from the microwave to the infrared. Two different detection mechanisms are exposed: 1) heating of the graphene weak link in the GJJ and 2) quasiparticle generation in the GJJ superconducting contacts. The first relies on graphene’s exceptionally low heat capacity and its decoupled electron and phonon systems. I show in model- ing that these thermal properties can lead to a GJJ photon detector for very low energy microwave photons. Ex- perimentally, I show that a GJJ bolometer with its graphene weak link coupled to a microwave resonator can achieve an energy resolution equivalent to a single 32-GHz photon. The second detection mechanism reveals it- self in the illumination of a GJJ with near-infrared light. I experimentally demonstrate single-photon detection in this system and show that the data is well fit by a model where photon-induced quasiparticles in the supercon- ducting contacts cause the GJJ phase particle to escape. I give an overview of the single-photon, graphene, and Josephson-junction physics required to arrive at these results before presenting the experimental evidence for single-microwave-photon sensitivity and single-infrared-photon detection with the GJJ. iii Contents Title Page i Copyright ii Abstract iii Table of Contents iv Acknowledgements vi 1 Introduction 1 2 Single Photon Detection 4 2.1 Introduction ........................................... 4 2.2 Quantum Description of Light .................................. 5 2.3 Photon Counting Statistics .................................... 9 2.4 Detection Mechanisms ...................................... 12 3 Graphene 16 3.1 Introduction ........................................... 16 3.2 Thermal Properties ........................................ 21 3.3 Optical Properties ........................................ 24 3.4 Coupling Photons to Graphene ................................. 27 4 Josephson Junctions 32 4.1 Introduction ........................................... 32 4.2 The Josephson Tunneling Junction ............................... 33 4.3 Macroscopic Description: RCSJ Model and Phase Particle Dynamics . 35 4.4 Microscopic Description: Andreev States ............................ 40 4.5 Graphene-Based Josephson Junctions .............................. 42 4.6 Absorption in Superconducting Contacts ............................ 45 5 Modeling of a GJJ SPD 49 5.1 Introduction ........................................... 50 5.2 Device Concept and Input Coupling .............................. 51 5.3 Graphene Thermal Response .................................. 54 5.4 Graphene-Based Josephson Junction ............................... 60 5.5 Photon Detection Performance ................................. 65 5.6 Conclusion ............................................ 69 iv 6 Another Approach: Johnson Noise Thermometry 70 6.1 Introduction ........................................... 70 6.2 Johnson Noise Thermometry Basics ............................... 71 6.3 Single Photon Detection ..................................... 72 6.4 Photon-Number Resolving ................................... 73 7 GJJ Microwave Bolometry with Single-Photon Sensitivity 76 7.1 Abstract ............................................. 77 7.2 Introduction ........................................... 78 7.3 Experimental Setup ....................................... 78 7.4 GJJ Microwave Response ..................................... 82 7.5 Bolometer Performance ..................................... 85 7.6 Methods ............................................. 86 8 Detecting Single Infrared Photons with a GJJ 93 8.1 Abstract ............................................. 94 8.2 Introduction ........................................... 95 8.3 Evidence of Single-Photon Detection .............................. 98 8.4 Switching Mechanism ...................................... 100 8.5 Absorption ............................................ 101 8.6 Physical Model .......................................... 103 8.7 Tables of measured devices .................................... 104 R 8.8 Calculation of photon from laser power ............................. 105 8.9 Single-Photon Detection in Pulsed Measurements . 106 8.10 Proportionality of Γmeas in laser power .............................. 108 8.11 Sweeping Experiments versus Counting Experiments and their correspondence . 109 8.12 Experimental determination of polarization orientation . 110 8.13 HFSS simulation ......................................... 111 8.14 Γmeas of JJ using tetra-layer graphene ............................... 112 8.15 Modeling of Γmeas in Fig. 8.3B .................................. 113 8.16 Gate Dependence of the GJJ Single-Photon Response . 116 9 Conclusion 119 Appendix A Experimental Setup 121 A.1 Device Mounting ......................................... 121 A.2 Optical Setup ........................................... 122 A.3 Electronic Setup ......................................... 125 References 128 v Acknowledgments God has abundantly blessed me in the 9 years since I started my Ph.D. with a path I would have never expected. The family and friends who have supported me during that time have been nothing short of astounding and I would not be at this milestone in my life without them. First and foremost, I acknowledge my wife, my forever friend, my love, Beth. Who knew the adventure we would be embarking on when we went to play frisbee 7 years ago? She has been there with me every step of the way, through multiple new career opportunities, through dat- ing, engagement, and marriage, through starting a new church, through four children! Her love, encouragement, and prayers for me have provided me with the strength to continue on in my Ph.D. work. A loving wife, a loving mother, dedicated and strong, I could go on and on! So to Beth — thank you. To my four children, Aubree, Na- talee, Daniel, and my youngest son who I can’t wait to meet — I love you and love watching you grow up. Thank you for knowing how to put a smile on Daddy’s face and being the loving, silly, amazing kids that you are. To my parents, Dan and Joy — your loving support throughout my life has set the foundation for me to succeed. Your advice of “half work, half life” when I started graduate school stuck with me throughout my Ph.D. studies. I could not ask for more loving parents. To my brother Brady — your love and support of me, and now my family, have been great blessings to me throughout my life. Of course the work in this dissertation was not just “my” work but the work of a large team of people. First, I would like to thank KC Fong who was the driving force behind the project. Thank you for your hard work and dedication throughout this project and for teaching me all the interesting physics and experimental techniques I needed to be successful. Next, thank you to my advisor Dirk Englund, for the advice and support along the way and for making me feel a part of your lab even though I took a non-traditional path to get there. To Philip Kim — thank you for always having an open door for me. One person who is truly an indispensable member of the team vi is Gil-Ho Lee. Gil-Ho — thank you for all the devices, all the teaching on Josephson junction physics, and all the overall hard work you put into this project. To Dima Efetov — thank you for showing me the ropes and all the advice you gave me during our time together. Almost all of my work was carried out at BBN Technologies and I want