Optically-induced quantum transitions in direct-probed mesoscopic 2H-NbSe2 for prototypical bolometers

Published

August 26, 2024

Author(s)

Kishan Jayanand, Gustavo Saenz, Sergiy Krylyuk, Albert Davydov, Goran Karapetrov, Zhonghe Liu, Weidong Zhou, Anupama Kaul

Abstract

Superconducting transition-edge sensors (TES) have emerged as fascinating devices to detect broadband electromagnetic radiation with low thermal noise. Extensive investigation into novel TES device architectures using conventional elemental or compound superconducting materials has enabled low optical power detection with high sensitivity. The advent of metallic transition metal dichalcogenides, such as NbSe2 has also piqued interest on their low-temperature properties, such as charge density waves and emergent superconductivity. However, a superconducting NbSe2 based sensor within the TES framework remains largely unexplored. In this work, we report on the optical-to-thermal transduction observed in bulk, direct-probed superconducting NbSe2 absorbers for a proof-of-concept demonstration of transduction from incoming light to heat, where a thermodynamic superconducting phase transition in NbSe2 is evident to switch it to the normal-state when biased below its superconducting transition temperature. A wavelength dependent response was observed for the optical absorption based on whether ultra-violet (405 nm), visible (660 nm), or infrared (1060 nm) radiation was used for the optical excitation source, and several switching parameters were calculated for this prototypical demonstration in bulk NbSe2. Furthermore, extensive optical characterization studies were conducted using temperature-dependent and laser power dependent Raman spectroscopy, which shed insights into directional anisotropy of the thermal conductivity, where the in-plane empirically determined thermal conductivity was almost two times higher than the out-of-plane mode. Our results open new possibilities for the use of NbSe2 as a van der Waals solid in superconducting radiation detectors, including in a TES framework.

Citation

iSCIENCE

Volume

27

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.110818

Local Download

Keywords

NbSe2, superconducting transition edge sensor, bolometer, optical-to-thermal transduction, superconductors, van der Waals solid

Citation

Jayanand, K. , Saenz, G. , Krylyuk, S. , Davydov, A. , Karapetrov, G. , Liu, Z. , Zhou, W. and Kaul, A. (2024), Optically-induced quantum transitions in direct-probed mesoscopic 2H-NbSe2 for prototypical bolometers, iSCIENCE, [online], https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.110818, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=934030 (Accessed October 19, 2024)