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Updated: Jul 3, 2026

High Resolution Phonon-assisted Quasi-resonance Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Published on: June 28, 2016
Quasiparticle relaxation in optically excited high-Q superconducting resonators
R Barends1, J J A Baselmans, S J C Yates
1Kavli Institute of NanoScience, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Delft University of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
The quasiparticle relaxation time in superconducting films has been measured as a function of temperature using the response of the complex conductivity to photon flux. For tantalum and aluminum, chosen for their difference in electron-phonon coupling strength, we find that at high temperatures the relaxation time increases with decreasing temperature, as expected for electron-phonon interaction. At low temperatures we find in both superconducting materials a saturation of the relaxation time, suggesting the presence of a second relaxation channel not due to electron-phonon interaction.
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