Tuning of superconducting niobium nitride terahertz metamaterials

Opt Express. 2011 Jun 20;19(13):12021-6. doi: 10.1364/OE.19.012021.

Abstract

Superconducting planar terahertz (THz) metamaterials (MMs), with unit cells of different sizes, are fabricated on 200 nm-thick niobium nitride (NbN) films deposited on MgO substrates. They are characterized using THz time domain spectroscopy over a temperature range from 8.1 K to 300 K, crossing the critical temperature of NbN films. As the gap frequency (f(g) = 2Δ0/h, where Δ0 is the energy gap at 0 K and h is the Plank constant) of NbN is 1.18 THz, the experimentally observed THz spectra span a frequency range from below f(g) to above it. We have found that, as the resonance frequency approaches f(g), the relative tuning range of MMs is quite wide (30%). We attribute this observation to the large change of kinetic inductance of superconducting film.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cold Temperature
  • Electric Conductivity*
  • Manufactured Materials*
  • Materials Testing / methods*
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Niobium / chemistry*
  • Surface Properties
  • Terahertz Radiation*

Substances

  • Niobium