abstract: The inductance of a conductor expresses its tendency to oppose a change in current flowing through it. For superconductors, in addition to the familiar magnetic inductance due to energy stored in the magnetic field generated by this current, kinetic inductance due to inertia of charge carriers is a significant and often dominant contribution to total inductance. Devices based on modifying the kinetic inductance of thin film superconductors have widespread application to millimeter-wave astronomy. Lithographically patterning such a film into a high quality factor resonator produces a high sensitivity photodetector known as a kinetic inductance detector (KID), which is sensitive to frequencies above the superconducting energy gap of the chosen material. Inherently multiplexable in the frequency domain and relatively simple to fabricate, KIDs pave the way to the large format focal plane array instruments necessary to conduct the next generation of cosmic microwave background (CMB), star formation, and galaxy evolution studies. In addition, non-linear kinetic inductance can be exploited to develop traveling wave kinetic inductance parametric amplifiers (TKIPs) based on superconducting delay lines to read out these instruments. I present my contributions to both large and small scale collaborative efforts to develop KID arrays, spectrometers integrated with KIDs, and TKIPs. I optimize a dual polarization TiN KID absorber for the next generation Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope for Polarimetry, which is designed to investigate the role magnetic fields play in star formation. As part of an effort to demonstrate aluminum KIDs on sky for CMB polarimetry, I fabricate devices for three design variants. SuperSpec and WSpec are respectively the on-chip and waveguide implementations of a filter bank spectrometer concept designed for survey spectroscopy of high redshift galaxies. I provide a robust tool for characterizing the performance of all SuperSpec devices and demonstrate basic functionality of the first WSpec prototype. As part of an effort to develop the first W-Band (75-110 GHz) TKIP, I construct a cryogenic waveguide feedthrough, which enhances the Astronomical Instrumentation Laboratory’s capability to test W-Band devices in general. These efforts contribute to the continued maturation of these kinetic inductance technologies, which will usher in a new era of millimeter-wave astronomy. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Astrophysics and Astronomy 2018

La supraconductivité induite par effet de proximité dans du graphène CVD macroscopique décoré de nanoparticules d'étain (G/Sn) est le thème central de cette thèse. Dans ce manuscrit, deux projets expérimentaux sont présentés. Le premier de ces projets a consisté à développer et étudier un nouveau matériau manipulable et flexible au sein duquel les corrélations supraconductrices s'étendent à des échelles macroscopiques. Ce matériau est un film composite qui résulte de l'empilement de trois ingrédients originaux: un film fin de parylène d'une épaisseur de quelques micromètres, une monocouche de graphène de plusieurs centimètres carrés et un film discontinu métallique obtenu par démouillage naturel de l'étain en surface du graphène.Des mesures de transport à basses températures ont permis de mettre en évidence l'émergence d'un effet de supraconductivité induite à l'échelle macroscopique. Le courant critique de la transition supraconductrice des films composites a pu être contrôlé par une tension de grille avec une sensibilité de cent nanoampères par volt. Le comportement sous champ magnétique transverse des films composites est similaire à celui des supraconducteurs comportant des joints de grains et est caractérisé, en particulier sous faible champ magnétique, par une forte sensibilité de la transition supraconductrice. Une étude approfondie a enfin montré que le matériau hybride G/Sn est un système percolant bidimensionnel qui se comporte, à l'approche de la transition supraconductrice, comme une jonction unique de taille micrométrique.Dans le cadre du second projet, des cavités supraconductrices radiofréquences (RF) ont été développées. Des pistes G/Sn ont été intégrées à ces circuits supraconducteurs dans l'optique de créer des résonateurs dont la fréquence de résonance est contrôlable par une tension de grille. Un procédé d'intégration de pistes G/Sn conjointement à plusieurs cavités à partir d'un seul transfert (pleine plaque) de graphène a été mis au point. Des mesures en transmission dans des conditions cryogéniques ont été effectuées pour caractériser ces dispositifs hybrides et étudier leur comportement dans le domaine RF. / Superconducting proximity effect in macroscopic CVD-grown graphene decorated by tin nanoparticles is the central topic of this thesis. In this manuscript, two experimental projects are presented.The first of these projects consisted in developing and studying a new easy to handle and flexible material in which superconducting correlations extend over macroscopic scales. This material is a composite film made from the stacking of three original components: a few micrometers thin plastic film in parylene, a several centimeters squares layer of graphene, and a cluster of nanoparticles achieved by natural dewetting of tin on the graphene surface.Cryogenic transport measurements highlighted an induced superconductivity on the scale of the studied composite films pieces dimensions, of the order of the centimetre square. The superconducting critical current of the composite films showed gate tunability of about one hundred nanoamperes by volt. The behaviour of the composite films under a transverse magnetic field is similar to the one of granular superconductors and is characterised, especially under weak transverse magnetic field, by a high sensitivity of the superconducting transition. An in-depth study showed that the G/Sn hybrid material is a bidimensional percolating system that, when approaching the superconducting transition, behaves like a single mesoscopic Josephson junction.Within the framework of the second project, superconducting radiofrequency (RF) cavities have been developed. G/Sn patches have been integrated into these superconducting circuits in order to build gate tunable resonators. A process allowing to integrate G/Sn patches jointly to a series of several cavities from a single graphene transfer have been developed. Transmission measurements in cryogenic conditions have been performed to characterise these hybrid devices and to study their radiofrequency response.

No / A new dual-log spiral geometry is proposed for microstrip resonators, offering substantial advantages in performance and size reduction at subgigahertz frequencies when realized in superconducting materials. The spiral is logarithmic in line spacing and width such that the width of the spiral line increases smoothly with the increase of the current density, reaching its maximum where the current density is maximum (in its center for ¿/2 resonators). Preliminary results of such a logarithmic ten-turn (2 × 5 turns) spiral, realized with double-sided YBCO thin film, showed a Q.-factor seven times higher than that of a single ten-turn uniform spiral made of YBCO thin film and 64 times higher than a copper counterpart. The insertion loss of the YBCO dual log-spiral has a high degree of independence of the input power in comparison with a uniform Archimedian spiral, increasing by only 2.5% for a 30-dBm increase of the input power, compared with nearly 31% for the uniform spiral. A simple approximate method, developed for prediction of the resonant frequency of the new resonators, shows a good agreement with the test results.