An integrated, superconducting imaging sensor may be formed from a single, meandering nanowire. The sensor is capable of single-photon (or single-event) detection and imaging with ?10 micron spatial resolution and sub-100-picosecond temporal resolution. The sensor may be readily scaled to large areas.

Utilizing a quench time to deionize an ultraviolet (UV) sensor tube are described herein. One method includes monitoring firing events within a UV sensor tube, where a particular firing event initiates arming the UV sensor tube, initiating a quench time to deionize the UV sensor tube, where the quench time includes, disarming the UV sensor tube to prevent a firing event.

A sensitivity parameter storing portion stores, as known sensitivity parameters owned by a flame sensor, a reference received light quantity, a reference pulse width, a probability of regular discharge, and probabilities of non-regular discharge in advance. The discharge probability is calculated based on a number drive pulses applied to the flame sensor and a number of discharges determined to have occurred in the flame sensor having received the drive pulses. The calculated discharge probability and the known sensitivity parameters are used to calculate a received light quantity per unit time received by the flame sensor. A pulse width correcting portion is provided to correct the pulse width of the drive pulses generated by an applied voltage generating circuit so that the discharge probability equals a target discharge probability.

Some aspects are directed to an all-on-chip, optoelectronic device for sampling arbitrary, low-energy, near-infrared waveforms under ambient conditions. This solid-state integrated detector uses optical-field-driven electron emission from resonant nanoantennas to achieve petahertz-level switching speeds by generating on-chip attosecond electron burst. Also disclosed is a cross-correlation technique based on perturbation of local electron field emission rates that allows for the full characterization of arbitrary electric fields down to 1 femtojoule, and/or on the order of 500 kV/m, using plasmonic nanoantennas.

The generation of photocurrent in an ideal two-dimensional Dirac spectrum is symmetry forbidden. In sharp contrast, a three-dimensional Weyl semimetal can generically support significant photocurrent due to the combination of inversion symmetry breaking and finite tilts of the Weyl spectrum. To realize this photocurrent, a noncentrosymmetric Weyl semimetal is coupled to a pair of electrodes and illuminated with circularly polarized light without any voltage applied to the Weyl semimetal. The wavelength of the incident light can range over tens of microns and can be adjusted by doping the Weyl semimetal to change its chemical potential.

In an embodiment, an arc light sensor includes: a first polarizer, a second polarizer, a magneto-optical material, a first light filter and a processing unit. The first polarizer is used for polarizing incident first target light, to form first polarized light in a first polarization direction. The second polarizer is used for polarizing incident second target light, to form second polarized light in the first polarization direction. The magneto-optical material, in a current magnetic field, uses the current magnetic field to rotate a polarization direction of the first polarized light, to form third polarized light. The first light filter is used for filtering the third polarized light, to form fourth polarized light capable of passing in a second polarization direction. The processing unit is used for determining whether the second target light is arc light according to intensity of the second polarized light and intensity of the fourth polarized light.

A method of resolving a number of photons received by a photon detector includes optically coupling a waveguide to a superconducting wire having alternating narrow and wide portions; electrically coupling the superconducting wire to a current source; and electrically coupling an electrical contact in parallel with the superconducting wire. The electrical contact has a resistance less than a resistance of the superconducting wire while at least one narrow portion of the superconducting wire is in a non-superconducting state. The method includes providing to the superconducting wire, from the current source, a current configured to maintain the superconducting wire in a superconducting state in the absence of incident photons; receiving one or more photons via the waveguide; measuring an electrical property of the superconducting wire, proportional to a number of photons incident on the superconducting wire; and determining the number of received photons based on the electrical property.

Disclosed is a single photon detector comprising a semiconductor substrate and a 2D material layer provided adjacent to the semiconductor substrate, the semiconductor substrate includes a first well having a first conductivity type, a heavily doped region having a second conductivity type different from the first conductivity type, and a depletion region provided between the first well and the heavily doped region.

A detector for detecting single photons of infrared radiation or longer wavelength electromagnetic radiation. In one embodiment a waveguide configured to transmit infrared radiation is arranged to be adjacent a graphene sheet and configured so that evanescent waves from the waveguide overlap the graphene sheet. In other embodiments a transmission line or antenna is coupled to the graphene sheet and guides longer-wavelength photons to the graphene sheet. A photon absorbed by the graphene sheet heats the graphene sheet. Part of the graphene sheet is part of the Josephson junction as the weak link, and a constant bias current is driven through the Josephson junction; an increase in the temperature of the graphene sheet results in a decrease in the critical current of the Josephson junction and a voltage pulse in the voltage across the Josephson junction. The voltage pulse is detected by the pulse detector.

The invention relates to radiation detection with a directly converting semiconductor layer for converting an incident radiation into electrical signals. Sub-band infra-red (IR) irradiation considerably reduces polarization in the directly converting semi-conductor material when irradiated, so that counting is possible at higher tube currents without any baseline shift. An IR irradiation device is integrated into the readout circuit to which the crystal is flip-chip bonded in order to enable 4-side-buttable crystals.