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Antipov, S. V., Vachtomin, Y. B., Maslennikov, S. N., Smirnov, K. V., Kaurova, N. S., Grishina, E. V., et al. (2004). Noise performance of quasioptical ultrathin NbN hot electron bolometer mixer at 2.5 and 3.8 THz. In Proc. 5-th MSMW (Vol. 2, pp. 592–594). Kharkov, Ukraine.
Abstract: To put space-based and airborne heterodyne instruments into operation at frequencies above 1 THz the superconducting NbN hot-electron bolometer (HEB) will be incorporated into heterodyne receiver as a mixer. At frequencies above 1.3 THz the sensitivity of the NbN HEB mixers outperform the one of the Schottky diodes and SIS-mixers, and the receiver noise temperature of the NbN HEB mixers increase with frequency. In this paper we present the results of the noise temperature measurements within one batch of NbN HEB mixers based on 3.5 mn thick superconducting NbN film grown on Si substrate with MgO buffer layer at the LO frequencies 2.5 THz and 3.8 THz.
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Trifonov, A., Tong, C. - Y. E., Blundell, R., Ryabchun, S., & Gol'tsman, G. (2015). Probing the stability of HEB mixers with microwave injection. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 25(3), 2300404 (1 to 4).
Abstract: Using a microwave probe as a tool, we have performed experiments aimed at understanding the origin of the output-power fluctuations in hot-electron-bolometer (HEB) mixers. We use a probe frequency of 1.5 GHz. The microwave probe picks up impedance changes of the HEB, which are examined upon demodulation of the reflected wave outside the cryostat. This study shows that the HEB mixer operates in two different regimes under a terahertz pump. At a low pumping level, strong pulse modulation is observed, as the device switches between the superconducting state and the normal state at a rate of a few megahertz. When pumped much harder, to approximate the low-noise mixer operating point, residual modulation can still be observed, showing that the HEB mixer is intrinsically unstable even in the resistive state. Based on these observations, we introduced a low-frequency termination to the HEB mixer. By terminating the device in a 50-Ω resistor in the megahertz frequency range, we have been able to improve the output-power Allan time of our HEB receiver by a factor of four to about 10 s for a detection bandwidth of 15 MHz, with a corresponding gain fluctuation of about 0.035%.
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Baselmans, J. J. A., Hajenius, M., Gao, J. R., Klapwijk, T. M., de Korte, P. A. J., Voronov, B., et al. (2004). Doubling of sensitivity and bandwidth in phonon cooled hot electron bolometer mixers. Appl. Phys. Lett., 84(11), 1958–1960.
Abstract: We demonstrate that the performance of NbN lattice cooled hot electron bolometer mixers depends strongly on the interface quality between the bolometer and the contact structure. We show experimentally that both the receiver noise temperature and the gain bandwidth can be improved by more than a factor of 2 by cleaning the interface and adding an additional superconducting interlayer to the contact pad. Using this we obtain a double sideband receiver noise temperature TN,DSB=950 K
at 2.5 THz and 4.3 K, uncorrected for losses in the optics. At the same bias point, we obtain an IF gain bandwidth of 6 GHz.
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Tong, C. - Y. E., Meledin, D., Blundell, R., Erickson, N., Kawamura, J., Mehdi, I., et al. (2003). A 1.5 THz hot-electron bolometer mixer operated by a planar diode-based local oscillator. In Proc. 14th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (286).
Abstract: We describe a 1.5 THz heterodyne receiver based on a superconductin g hot-electron bolometer mixer, which is pumped by an all-solid-state local oscillator chain. The bolometer is fabricated from a 3.5 nm-thick niobium nitride film deposited on a quartz substrate with a 200 nm-thick magnesium oxide buffer layer. The bolometer measures 0.15 fun in width and 1.5 1..tm in length. The chip consisting of the bolometer and mixer circuitry is incorporated in a fixed-tuned waveguide mixer block with a corru g ated feed horn. The local oscillator unit comprises of a cascade of four planar doublers followin g a MMIC-based W-band power amplifier. The local oscillator is coupled to the mixer using a Martin-Puplett interferometer. The local oscillator output power needed for optimal receiver performance is approximately 1 to 2 11W, and the chain is able to provide this power at a number of frequency points between 1.45 and 1.56 THz. By terminating the rf input with room temperature and 77 K loads, a Y-factor of 1.11 (DSB) has been measured at a local oscillator frequency of 1.476 THz at 3 GHz intermediate frequency.
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Semenov, A. D., Hübers, H. - W., Richter, H., Birk, M., Krocka, M., Mair, U., et al. (2002). 2.5 THz heterodyne receiver with NbN hot-electron-bolometer mixer. Phys. C: Supercond., 372-376, 448–453.
Abstract: We describe a 2.5 THz heterodyne receiver for applications in astronomy and atmospheric research. The receiver employs a superconducting NbN phonon-cooled hot-electron-bolometer mixer and an optically pumped far-infrared gas laser as local oscillator. 2200 K double sideband mixer noise temperature was measured at 2.5 THz across a 1 GHz intermediate frequency bandwidth centred at 1.5 GHz. The total conversion losses were 17 dB. The mixer response was linear at load temperatures smaller than 400 K. The receiver was tested in the laboratory environment by measuring the methanol line in emission. Observed pressure broadening confirms the true heterodyne detection regime of the mixer.
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Blundell, R., Kawamura, J. H., Tong, C. E., Papa, D. C., Hunter, T. R., Gol’tsman, G. N., et al. (1998). A hot-electron bolometer mixer receiver for the 680-830 GHz frequency range. In Proc. 6-th Int. Conf. Terahertz Electron. (pp. 18–20). IEEE.
Abstract: We describe a heterodyne receiver designed to operate in the partially transparent atmospheric windows centered on 680 and 830 GHz. The receiver incorporates a niobium nitride thin film, cooled to 4.2 K, as the phonon-cooled hot-electron mixer element. The double sideband receiver noise, measured over the frequency range 680-830 GHz, is typically 700-1300 K. The instantaneous output bandwidth of the receiver is 600 MHz. This receiver has recently been used at the SubMillimeter Telescope, jointly operated by the Steward Observatory and the Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomy, for observations of the neutral carbon and CO spectral lines at 810 GHz and at 806 and 691 GHz respectively. Laboratory measurements on a second mixer in the same test receiver have yielded extended high frequency performance to 1 THz.
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Kawamura, J. H., Tong, C. - Y. E., Blundell, R., Cosmo Papa, D., Hunter, T. R., Gol'tsman, G., et al. (1999). An 800 GHz NbN phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometer mixer receiver. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 9(2), 3753–3756.
Abstract: We describe a heterodyne receiver developed for astronomical applications to operate in the 350 /spl mu/m atmospheric window. The waveguide receiver employs a superconductive NbN phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometer mixer. The double sideband receiver noise temperature closely follows 1 kGHz/sup -1/ across 780-870 GHz, with the intermediate frequency centered at 1.4 GHz. The conversion loss is about 15 dB. The receiver was installed for operation at the University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy Submillimeter Telescope facility. The instrument was successfully used to conduct test observations of a number of celestial sources in a number of astronomically important spectral lines.
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Gerecht, E., Musante, C. F., Wang, Z., Yngvesson, K. S., Mueller, E. R., Waldman, J., et al. (1996). Optimization of hot eleciron bolometer mixing efficiency in NbN at 119 micrometer wavelength. In Proc. 7th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 584–600).
Abstract: We describe an investigation of a NbN HEB mixer for 2.5 THz. An intrinsic conversion loss of 23 dB has been measured with a two-laser measurement technique. The conversion loss was limited by the LO power available and is expected to decrease to 10 dB or less when sufficient LO power is available. For this initial experiment we used a prototype device which is directly coupled to the laser beams. We present results for a back-short technique that improves the optical coupling to the device and describe our progress for an antenna-coupled device with a smaller dimension. Based on our measured data for conversion loss and device output noise level, we predict that NbN HEB mixers will be capable of achieving DSB receiver noise temperatures of ten times the quantum noise limit in the THz range.
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Gerecht, E., Musante, C. F., Wang, Z., Yngvesson, K. S., Waldman, J., Gol'tsman, G. N., et al. (1997). NbN hot electron bolometric mixer for 2.5 THz: the phonon cooled version. In Proc. 8th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 258–271).
Abstract: We describe an investigation of a NbN HEB mixer for 2.5 THz. NbN HEBs are phonon-cooled de-. vices which are expected, according to theory, to achieve up to 10 GHz IF conversion gain bandwidth. We have developed an antenna coupled device using a log-periodic antenna and a silicon lens. We have demon- strated that sufficient LO power can be coupled to the device in order to bring it to the optimum mixer oper- ating point. The LO power required is less than 1 microwatts as measured directly at the device. We also describe the impedance characteristics of NbN devices and compare them with theory. The experimental results agree with theory except for the imaginary part of the impedance at very low frequencies as was demonstrated by other groups.
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Yang, Z. Q., Hajenius, M., Baselmans, J. J. A., Gao, J. R., Klapwijk, T. M., Voronov, B., et al. (2005). Improved sensitivity of NbN hot electron bolometer mixers by vacuum baking. In Proc. 16th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 222–225).
Abstract: We find that the sensitivity of heterodyne receivers based on superconducting hot-electron bolometer (HEB) in- creases by 25 − 30% after baking at 85 o C and in a high vacuum. The devices studied are twin-slot antenna coupled HEB mixers with a small NbN bridge of 1×0.15 μm 2 . The mixer noise temperature, gain, and resistance versus temperature curve of a HEB before and after baking are compared and analyzed. We show that baking reduces the intrinsic noise of the mixer by 37 % and makes the superconducting transition of the bridge and the contacts sharper. We argue that the reduction of the noise is due to the improvement of the transparency of the contact/film interface. The lowest receiver noise temperature of 700 K is measured at a local oscillator frequency of 1.63 THz and a bath temperature of 4.3 K.
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Yang, Z. Q., Hajenius, M., Baselmans, J. J. A., Gao, J. R., Voronov, B., & Gol’tsman, G. N. (2006). Reduced noise in NbN hot-electron bolometer mixers by annealing. Supercond. Sci. Technol., 19(4), L (9 to 12).
Abstract: We find that the sensitivity of heterodyne receivers based on superconducting hot-electron bolometers (HEBs) increases by 25–30% after annealing at 85 °C in vacuum. The devices studied are twin-slot antenna coupled mixers with a small NbN bridge of 1 × 0.15 µm2. We show that annealing changes the device properties as reflected in sharper resistive transitions of the complete device, apparently reducing the device-related noise. The lowest receiver noise temperature of 700 K is measured at a local oscillator frequency of 1.63 THz and a bath temperature of 4.3 K.
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Loudkov, D., Tong, C. - Y. E., Blundell, R., Kaurova, N., Grishina, E., Voronov, B., et al. (2005). An investigation of the performance of the superconducting HEB mixer as a function of its RF embedding impedance. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 15(2), 472–475.
Abstract: We have conducted an investigation of the optimal embedding impedance for a waveguide superconducting hot-electron bolometric (HEB) mixer. Three mixer chip designs for 800 GHz, offering nominal embedding resistances of 70 /spl Omega/, 35 /spl Omega/, and 15 /spl Omega/, have been developed. We used both High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) software and scale model impedance measurements in the design process. We subsequently fabricated HEB mixers to these designs using 3-4 nm thick NbN thin film. Receiver noise temperature measurements and Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) scans were performed to determine the optimal combination of embedding impedance and normal-state resistance for a 50 Ohm IF load impedance. A receiver noise temperature of 440 K was measured at a local oscillator frequency 850 GHz for a mixer with normal state resistance of 62 /spl Omega/ incorporated into a circuit offering a nominal embedding impedance of 70 /spl Omega/. We conclude from our data that, for low noise operation, the normal state resistance of the HEB mixer element should be close to the embedding impedance of the mixer mount.
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Loudkov, D., Tong, C. - Y. E., Blundell, R., Kaurova, N., Grishina, E., Voronov, B., et al. (2005). An investigation of the performance of the waveguide superconducting HEB mixer at different RF embedding impedances. In Proc. 16th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 226–229).
Abstract: We have conducted an investigation of the performance of superconducting hot-electron bolometric (HEB) mixer at 800 GHz as a function of the embedding impedance of the waveguide embedding circuit. Using a single half-height mixer block, we have developed three different mixer chip configurations, offering nominal embedding resistances of 70, 35, and 15 Ohms. Both the High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) software and scaled model impedance measurements were employed in the design process. Two batches of HEB mixers were fabricated to these designs using 3-4 nm thick NbN thin film. The mixers were characterized through receiver noise temperature measurements and Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) scans. Briefly, a minimum receiver noise temperature of 440 K was measured at a local oscillator frequency 850 GHz for a mixer of normal state resistance 62 Ohms incorporated into a circuit offering a nominal embedding impedance of 70 Ohms. We conclude from our data that, for low noise operation, the normal state resistance of the HEB mixer element should be close to that of the embedding impedance of the mixer mount.
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Tong, C. - Y. E., Meledin, D., Loudkov, D., Blundell, R., Erickson, N., Kawamura, J., et al. (2003). A 1.5 THz Hot-Electron Bolometer mixer operated by a planar diode based local oscillator. In IEEE MTT-S Int. Microwave Symp. Digest (Vol. 2, pp. 751–754).
Abstract: We have developed a 1.5 THz superconducting NbN Hot-Electron Bolometer mixer. It is operated by an all-solid-state Local Oscillator comprising of a cascade of 4 planar doublers following an MMIC based W-band power amplifier. The threshold available pump power is estimated to be 1 /spl mu/W.
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Kawamura, J., Tong, C. - Y. E., Blundell, R., Papa, D. C., Hunter, T. R., Patt, F., et al. (2001). Terahertz-frequency waveguide NbN hot-electron bolometer mixer. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 11(1), 952–954.
Abstract: We have developed a low-noise waveguide heterodyne receiver for operation near 1 THz using phonon-cooled NbN hot-electron bolometers. The mixer elements are submicron-sized microbridges of 4 nm-thick NbN film fabricated on a quartz substrate. Operating at a bath temperature of 4.2 K, the double-sideband receiver noise temperature is 760 K at 1.02 THz and 1100 K at 1.26 THz. The local oscillator is provided by solid-state sources, and power measured at the source is less than 1 /spl mu/W. The intermediate frequency bandwidth exceeds 2 GHz. The receiver was used to make the first ground-based heterodyne detection of a celestial spectroscopic line above 1 THz.
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Meledin, D., Tong, C. - Y. E., Blundell, R., & Goltsman, G. (2003). Measurement of intermediate frequency bandwidth of hot electron bolometer mixers at terahertz frequency range. IEEE Microw. Wireless Compon. Lett., 13(11), 493–495.
Abstract: We have developed a new experimental setup for measuring the IF bandwidth of superconducting hot electron bolometer mixers. In our measurement system we use a chopped hot filament as a broadband signal source, and can perform a high-speed IF scan with no loss of accuracy when compared to coherent methods. Using this technique we have measured the 3 dB IF bandwidth of hot electron bolometer mixers, designed for THz frequency operation, and made from 3-4 nm thick NbN film deposited on an MgO buffer layer over crystalline quartz.
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Meledin, D., Tong, C. Y. - E., Blundell, R., Kaurova, N., Smirnov, K., Voronov, B., et al. (2002). The sensitivity and IF bandwidth of waveguide NbN hot electron bolometer mixers on MgO buffer layers over crystalline quartz. In Harvard university (Ed.), Proc. 13th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 65–72). Cambridge, MA, USA.
Abstract: We have developed and characterized waveguide phonon-cooled NbN Hot Electron Bolometer (FMB) mixers fabricated from a 3-4 nm thick NbN film deposited on a 200nm thick MgO buffer layer over crystalline quartz. Double side band receiver noise temperatures of 900-1050 K at 1.035 THz, and 1300-1400 K at 1.26 THz have been measured at an intermediate frequency of 1.5 GHz. The intermediate frequency bandwidth, measured at 0.8 THz LO frequency, is 3.2 GHz at the optimal bias point for low noise receiver operation.
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Yngvesson, K. S., Gerecht, E., Musante, C. F., Zhuang, Y., Ji, M., Goyette, T. M., et al. (1999). Low-noise HEB heterodyne receivers and focal plane arrays for the THz regime using NbN. In R. J. Hwu, & K. Wu (Eds.), Proc. SPIE (Vol. 3795, pp. 357–368). SPIE.
Abstract: We have developed prototype HEB receivers using thin film superconducting NbN devices deposited on silicon substrates. The devices are quasi-optically coupled through a silicon lens and a self-complementary log-specific toothed antenna. We measured DSB receiver noise temperatures of 500 K (13 X hf/2k) at 1.56 THz and 1,100 K (20 X hf/2k) at 2.24 THz. Noise temperatures are expected to fall further as devices and quasi-optical coupling methods are being optimized. The measured 3 dB IF conversion gain bandwidth for one device was 3 GHz, and it is estimated that the bandwidth over which the receiver noise temperature is within 3 dB of its minimum value is 6.5 GHz which is sufficient for a number of practical applications. We will discuss our latest results and give a detailed description of our prototype setup and experiments. We will also discuss our plans for developing focal plane arrays with tens of Hot Electron Bolometric mixer elements on a single silicon substrate which will make real time imaging systems in the THz region feasible.
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Tong, C. E., Trifonov, A., Blundell, R., Shurakov, A., & Gol’tsman, G. (2014). A digital terahertz power meter based on an NbN thin film. In Proc. 25th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (170).
Abstract: We have further studied the effect of subjecting a superconducting Hot Electron Bolometer (HEB) element made from an NbN thin film to microwave radiation. Since the photon energy is weak, the microwave radiation does not simply heat the film, but generates a bi-static state, switching between the superconducting and normal states, upon the application of a small voltage bias. Indeed, a relaxation oscillation of a few MHz has previously been reported in this regime [1]. Switching between the superconducting and normal states modulates the reflected microwave pump power from the device. A simple homodyne setup readily recovers the spontaneous switching waveform in the time domain. The switching frequency is a function of both the bias voltage (DC heating) and the applied microwave power. In this work, we use a 0.8 THz HEB waveguide mixer for the purpose of demonstration. The applied microwave pump, coupled through a directional coupler, is at 1 GHz. Since the pump power is of the order of a few μW, a room temperature amplifier is sufficient to amplify the reflected pump power from the HEB mixer, which beats with the microwave source in a homodyne set-up. After further amplification, the switching waveform is passed onto a frequency counter. The typical frequency of the switching pulses is 3-5 MHz. It is found that the digital frequency count increases with higher microwave pump power. When the HEB mixer is subjected to additional optical power at 0.8 THz, the frequency count also increases. When we vary the incident optical power by using a wire grid attenuator, a linear relationship is observed between the frequency count and the applied optical power, over at least an order of magnitude of power. This phenomenon can be exploited to develop a digital power meter, using a very simple electronics setup. Further experiments are under way to determine the range of linearity and the accuracy of calibration transfer from the microwave to the THz regime. References 1. Y. Zhuang, and S. Yngvesson, “Detection and interpretation of bistatic effects in NbN HEB devices,” Proc. 13 th Int. Symp. Space THz Tech., 2002, pp. 463–472.
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Huebers, H. - W., Schubert, J., Semenov, A., Gol’tsman, G. N., Voronov, B. M., Gershenzon, E. M., et al. (1999). NbN phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometer as a mixer for THz heterodyne receivers. In J. M. Chamberlain (Ed.), Proc. SPIE (Vol. 3828, pp. 410–416). Spie.
Abstract: We have investigated a phonon-cooled NbN hot electron bolometric (HEB) mixer in the frequency range from 0.7 THz to 5.2 THz. The device was a 3.5 nm thin film with an in- plane dimension of 1.7 X 0.2 micrometers 2 integrated in a complementary logarithmic spiral antenna. The measured DSB receiver noise temperatures are 1500 K, 2200 K, 2600 K, 2900 K, 4000 K, 5600 K and 8800 K. The sensitivity fluctuation, the long term stability, and the antenna pattern were measured and the suitability of the mixer for a practical heterodyne receiver is discussed.
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Ryabchun, S., Tong, C. - Y. E., Blundell, R., Kimberk, R., & Gol'tsman, G. (2007). Study of the effect of microwave radiation on the operation of HEB mixers in the terahertz frequency range. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 17(2), 391–394.
Abstract: We have investigated the effect of injecting microwave radiation, with a frequency much lower than that corresponding to the energy gap of the superconductor, on the performance of the hot-electron bolometer mixer incorporated into a THz heterodyne receiver. More specifically, we show that exposing the mixer to microwave radiation does not cause a significant rise of the receiver noise temperature and fall of the mixer conversion gain so long as the microwave power is a small fraction of local oscillator power. The injection of a small, but controlled amount of microwave power therefore enables active compensation of local oscillator power and coupling fluctuations which can significantly degrade the gain stability of hot electron bolometer mixer receivers.
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Ekström, H., Kollberg, E., Yagoubov, P., Gol'tsman, G., Gershenzon, E., & Yngvesson, S. (1997). Phonon cooled ultra thin NbN hot electron bolometer mixers at 620 GHz. In Proc. 8th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 29–35).
Abstract: We have measured the noise performance and gain bandwidth of 35 A thin NbN hot-electron mixers integrated with spiral antennas on silicon substrate lenses at 620 GHz. A double-sideband receiver noise temperature less than 1300 K has been obtained with a 3 dB bandwidth of GHz. The gain bandwidth is 3.2 GHz. A lower noise temperature of 1100 K has been achieved with an improved set-up. The mixer output noise dominated by thermal fluctuations is about 50-60 K, and the SSB receiver and intrinsic conversion gain is about -18 and -12 dB, respectively. Without mismatch losses and excluding the loss from the beamsplitter, we expect to achieve a receiver noise temperature of less than 700 K.
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Ekstörm, H., Kollberg, E., Yagoubov, P., Gol'tsman, G., Gershenzon, E., & Yngvesson, S. (1997). Gain and noise bandwidth of NbN hot-electron bolometric mixers. Appl. Phys. Lett., 70(24), 3296–3298.
Abstract: We have measured the noise performance and gain bandwidth of 35 Å thin NbN hot-electron mixers integrated with spiral antennas on silicon substrate lenses at 620 GHz. The best double-sideband receiver noise temperature is less than 1300 K with a 3 dB bandwidth of ≈5 GHz. The gain bandwidth is 3.2 GHz. The mixer output noise dominated by thermal fluctuations is 50 K, and the intrinsic conversion gain is about −12 dB. Without mismatch losses and excluding the loss from the beamsplitter, we expect to achieve a receiver noise temperature of less than 700 K.
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Ekström, H., Kroug, M., Belitsky, V., Kollberg, E., Olsson, H., Goltsman, G., et al. (1996). Hot electron mixers for THz applications. In E. J. Rolfe, & G. Pilbratt (Eds.), Proc. 30th ESLAB (pp. 207–210).
Abstract: We have measured the noise performance of 35 A thin NbN HEB devices integrated with spiral antennas on antireflection coated silicon substrate lenses at 620 GHz. From the noise measurements we have determined a total conversion gain of the receiver of—16 dB, and an intrinsic conversion of about-10 dB. The IF bandwidth of the 35 A thick NbN devices is at least 3 GHz. The DSB receiver noise temperature is less than 1450 K. Without mismatch losses, which is possible to obtain with a shorter device, and with reduced loss from the beamsplitter, we expect to achieve a DSB receiver noise temperature of less ‘than 700 K.
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Gerecht, E., Musante, C. F., Schuch, R., Lutz, C. R., Jr., Yngvesson, K. S., et al. (1995). Hot electron detection and mixing experiments in NbN at 119 micrometer wavelength. In Proc. 6th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 284–293).
Abstract: We have performed preliminary experiments with the goal of demonstrating a Hot Electron Bolometric (HEB) mixer for a 119 micrometer wavelength (2.5 THz). We have chosen a NbN device of size 700 x 350 micrometers. This device can easily be coupled to a laser LO source, which is advantageous for performing a prototype experiment. The relatively large size of the device means that the LO power required is in the mW range; this power can be easily obtained from a THz laser source. We have measured the amount of laser power actually absorbed in the device, and from this have estimated the best optical coupling loss to be about 10 di . We are developing methods for improving the optical coupling further. Preliminary measurements of the response of the device to a chopped black-body have not yet resulted in a measured receiver noise temperature. We expect to be able to complete this measurement in the near future.
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Svechnikov, S., Gol'tsman, G., Voronov, B., Yagoubov, P., Cherednichenko, S., Gershenzon, E., et al. (1997). Spiral antenna NbN hot-electron bolometer mixer at submm frequencies. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 7(2), 3395–3398.
Abstract: We have studied the phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometer (HEB) as a quasioptical mixer based on a spiral antenna designed for the 0.3-1 THz frequency band and fabricated on sapphire and high resistivity silicon substrates. HEB devices were produced from superconducting 3.5-5 nm thick NbN films with a critical temperature 10-12 K and a critical current density of approximately 10/sup 7/ A/cm/sup 2/ at 4.2 K. For these devices we reached a DSB receiver noise temperature below 1500 K, a total conversion loss of L/sub t/=16 dB in the 500-700 GHz frequency range, an IF bandwidth of 3-4 GHz and an optimal LO absorbed power of /spl sime/4 /spl mu/W. We experimentally analyzed various contributions to the conversion loss and obtained an RF coupling factor of about 5 dB, internal mixer loss of 10 dB and IF mismatch of 1 dB.
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Khosropanah, P., Gao, J. R., Laauwen, W. M., Hajenius, M., & Klapwijk, T. M. (2007). Low noise NbN hot electron bolometer mixer at 4.3 THz. Appl. Phys. Lett., 91, 221111 (1 to 3).
Abstract: We have studied the sensitivity of a superconducting NbN hot electron bolometer mixer integrated with a spiral antenna at 4.3 THz. Using hot/cold blackbody loads and a beam splitter all in vacuum, we measured a double sideband receiver noise temperature of 1300 K at the optimum local oscillator (LO) power of 330 nW, which is about 12 times the quantum noise (hnu/2kB). Our result indicates that there is no sign of degradation of the mixing process at the superterahertz frequencies. Moreover, a measurement method is introduced which allows us for an accurate determination of the sensitivity despite LO power fluctuations.
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Miao, W., Zhang, W., Zhong, J. Q., Shi, S. C., Delorme, Y., Lefevre, R., et al. (2014). Non-uniform absorption of terahertz radiation on superconducting hot electron bolometer microbridges. <ef><bf><bc>Appl. Phys. Lett., 104, 052605(1–4).
Abstract: We interpret the experimental observation of a frequency-dependence of superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers by taking into account the non-uniform absorption of the terahertz radiation on the superconducting HEB microbridge. The radiation absorption is assumed to be proportional to the local surface resistance of the HEB microbridge, which is computed using the Mattis-Bardeen theory. With this assumption the dc and mixing characteristics of a superconducting niobium-nitride (NbN) HEB device have been modeled at frequencies below and above the equilibrium gap frequency of the NbN film.
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Maslennikov, S. N., Finkel, M. I., Antipov, S. V., Polyakov, S. L., Zhang, W., Ozhegov, R., et al. (2006). Spiral antenna coupled and directly coupled NbN HEB mixers in the frequency range from 1 to 70 THz. In Proc. 17th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 177–179). Paris, France.
Abstract: We investigate both antenna coupled and directly coupled HEB mixers at several LO frequencies within the range of 2.5 THz to 70 THz. H20 (2.5+10.7 THz), and CO2 (30 THz) gas discharge lasers are used as the local oscillators. The noise temperature of antenna coupled mixers is measured at LO frequencies of 2.5 THz, 3.8 THz, and 30 THz. The results for both antenna coupled and directly coupled mixer types are compared. The devices with in—plane dimensions of 5x5 ,um 2 are pumped by LO radiation at 10.7 THz. The directly coupled HEB demonstrates nearly flat dependence of responsivity on frequency in the range of 25+64 THz.
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Cherednichenko, S., Kroug, M., Khosropanah, P., Adam, A., Merkel, H., Kolberg, E., et al. (2002). A broadband terahertz heterodyne receiver with an NbN HEB mixer. In Harward University (Ed.), Proc. 13th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 85–95). Cambridge, MA, USA.
Abstract: We present a broadband and low noise heterodyne receiver for 1.4-1.7 THz designed for the Hershel Space Observatory. A phonon- cooled NbN HEB mixer was integrated with a normal metal double- slot antenna and an elliptical silicon lens. DSB receiver noise temperature Tr was measured from 1 GHz through 8GHz intermediate frequency band with 50 MHz instantaneous bandwidth. At 4.2 K bath temperature and at 1.6 THz LO frequency Tr is 800 K with the receiver noise bandwidth of 5 GHz. While at 2 K bath temperature Tr was as low as 700 K. At 0.6 THz and 1.1 THz a spiral antenna integrated NbN HEB mixer showed the receiver noise temperature 500 K and 800 K, though no antireflection coating was used in this case. Tr of 1100 K was achieved at 2.5 THz while the receiver noise bandwidth was 4 GHz.
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Baselmans, J. J. A., Baryshev, A., Hajenius, M., Gao, J. R., Klapwijk, T. M., Voronov, B., et al. (2006). Influence of the direct response on the heterodyne sensitivity of hot electron bolometer mixers. In Proc. 17th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (81).
Abstract: We present a detailed experimental study of the direct detection effect in a small volume (0.15pm x lpm) NbN hot electron bolometer mixer. It is a quasioptical mixer with a twin slot antenna designed for 700 GHz and the measurement was done at a LO frequency of 670 GHz. The direct detection effect is characterized by a change in the mixer bias current when switching broadband radiation from a 300 K hot load to a 77 K cold load in a standard Y factor measurement. The result is, depending on the receiver under study, an increase or decrease in the receiver noise temperature. We find that the small signal noise temperature, which is the noise temperature that would be observed without the presence of the direct detection effect, and thus the one that is relevant for an astronomical observation, is 20% lower than the noise temperature obtained using 300 K and 77 K calibration loads. Thus, in our case the direct detection effect reduces the mixer sensitivity. These results are in good agreement with previous measurement at THz frequencies [1]. Other experiments report an increase in mixer sensitivity [2]. To analyze this discrepancy we have designed a separate set of experiments to find out the physical origin of the direct detection effect. Possible candidates are the bias current dependence of the mixer gain and the bias current dependence of the IF match. We measured directly the change in mixer IF match and receiver gain due to the direct detection effect. From these measurements we conclude that the direct detection effect is caused by a combination of bias current reduction when switching form the 77 K to the 300 K load in combination with the bias current dependence of the receiver gain. The bias current dependence of the receiver gain is shown to be mainly caused by the current dependence of the mixer gain. We also find that an increase in receiver sensitivity due to the direct detection effect is only possible if the noise temperature change due to the direct detection is dominated by the mixer-amplifier IF match. [1] J.J.A. Baselmans, A. Baryshev, S.F. Reker, M. Hajenius, J.R. Gao, T.M. Klapwijk, Yu.Vachtomin, S. Maslennikov, S. Antipov, B. Voronov, and G. Gol'tsman., Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 163503 (2005). [2] S. Svechnokov, A. Verevkin, B. Voronov, E. Menschikov. E. Gershenzon, G. Gol'tsman, 9th Int. Symp. On Space THz. Techn., 45, (1999).
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Baselmans, J. J. A., Baryshev, A., Reker, S. F., Hajenius, M., Gao, J. R., Klapwijk, T. M., et al. (2006). Influence of the direct response on the heterodyne sensitivity of hot electron bolometer mixers. J. Appl. Phys., 100(8), 084510 (1 to 7).
Abstract: We present a detailed experimental study of the direct detection effect in a small volume (0.15μm×1μm×3.5nm) quasioptical NbN phonon cooled hot electron bolometer mixer at 673GHz. We find that the small signal noise temperature, relevant for an astronomical observation, is 20% lower than the noise temperature obtained using 300 and 77K calibration loads. In a separate set of experiments we show that the direct detection effect is caused by a combination of bias current reduction when switching from the 77 to the 300K
load in combination with the bias current dependence of the receiver gain. The bias current dependence of the receiver gain is shown to be mainly caused by the current dependence of the mixer gain.
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Lobanov, Y., Tong, E., Blundell, R., Hedden, A., Voronov, B., & Gol'tsman, G. (2011). Large-signal frequency response of an HEB mixer: from 300 MHz to terahertz. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 21(3), 628–631.
Abstract: We present a study of the large signal frequency response of an HEB mixer over a wide frequency range. In our experiments, we have subjected the HEB mixer to incident electromagnetic radiation from 0.3 GHz to 1 THz. The mixer element is an NbN film deposited on crystalline quartz. The mixer chip is mounted in a waveguide cavity, coupled to free space with a diagonal horn. At microwave frequencies, electromagnetic radiation is applied through the coaxial bias port of the mixer block. At higher frequencies the input signal passes via the diagonal horn feed. At each frequency, the incident power is varied and a family of I-V curves is recorded. From the curves we identify 3 distinct regimes of operation of the mixer separated by the phonon relaxation frequency and the superconducting energy gap frequency observed at about 3 GHz and 660 GHz respectively. In this paper, we will present observed curves and discuss the results of our experiment.
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Semenov, A. D., & Gol’tsman, G. N. (2000). Nonthermal mixing mechanism in a diffusion-cooled hot-electron detector. J. Appl. Phys., 87(1), 502–510.
Abstract: We present an analysis of a diffusion-cooled hot-electron detector fabricated from clean superconducting material with low transition temperature. The distinctive feature of a clean material, i.e., material with large electron mean free path, is a relatively weak inelastic electron scattering that is not sufficient for the establishment of an elevated thermodynamic electron temperature when the detector is subjected to irradiation. We propose an athermal model of a diffusion-cooled detector that relies on suppression of the superconducting energy gap by the actual dynamic distribution of excess quasiparticles. The resistive state of the device is caused by the electric field penetrating into the superconducting bridge from metal contacts. The dependence of the penetration length on the energy gap delivers the detection mechanism. The sources of the electric noise are equilibrium fluctuations of the number of thermal quasiparticles and frequency dependent shot noise. Using material parameters typical for A1, we evaluate performance of the device in the heterodyne regime at terahertz frequencies. Estimates show that the mixer may have a noise temperature of a few quantum limits and a bandwidth of a few tens of GHz, while the required local oscillator power is in the μW range due to ineffective suppression of the energy gap by quasiparticles with high energies.
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Shcherbatenko, M., Lobanov, Y., Finkel, M., Maslennikov, S., Pentin, I., Semenov, A., et al. (2014). Development of a 30 THz heterodyne receiver based on a hot-electron-bolometer mixer. In Proc. 25th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (122).
Abstract: We present new Hot-Electron-Bolometer (HEB) mixers designed for mid-IR spectroscopy targeting astrophysical and geophysical observations where high sensitivity and spectral resolution are required. The mixers are made of an ultrathin NbN film deposited on GaAs substrates. Two entirely different types of the devices have been fabricated. The first type is based on a direct radiation coupling concept and the mixing devices are shaped as squares of 5×5 μm 2 (which corresponds to the diffraction limit at the chosen wavelength) and 10×10 μm 2 (which was used to establish a possible influence of the contact pads on the radiation absorption). The second type utilizes a spiral antenna designed with HFSS. The fabrication and layout of the devices as well as the performance comparison will be presented. During the experiments, the HEB mixer was installed on the cold plate of a LHe cryostat. A germanium window and an extended semi-spherical germanium lens are used to couple the radiation. The cryostat is equipped with a germanium optical filter of thickness 0.5 mm and with a center wavelength of 10.6 mμ. The incident power absorption is measured by using the isothermal method. As a Local Oscillator, a 10.6 micrometers line of a CO2 gas laser is used. We further characterize the frequency response of the spiral antenna with a FIR-spectrometer. The noise characteristics of the mixers are determined from a room temperature cold load and a heated black body at ~600 K as a hot load.
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Kawamura, J., Blundell, R., Tong, C. - Y. E., Gol'tsman, G., Gershenzon, E., & Voronov, B. (1995). NbN hot-electron mixer measurements at 200 GHz. In Proc. 6th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 254–261).
Abstract: We present noise and gain measurements of resistively driven NbN hot-electron mixers near 200 GHz. The device geometry is chosen so that the dominant cooling process of the hot-electrons is their interaction with the lattice. Except for a single batch, the intermediate frequency cut-off of these mixer elements is – 3 700 MHz, and has shown little variation among other batches of devices. At 100 MHz we measured intrinsic mixer losses as low as —3 dB. We measured the noise temperatures at several intermediate frequencies, and for the best de- vice at 137 MHz with 20 MHz bandwidth, we measured 2000 K; using a low-noise first- stage amplifier at 1.5 GHz with 200 MHz bandwidth, the receiver noise temperature measured 2800 K. We estimate that the noise contribution from the mixer is 500 K and the total losses are —15 dB at 137 MHz.
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Semenov, A., Richter, H., Smirnov, K., Voronov, B., Gol'tsman, G., & Hübers, H. - W. (2004). The development of terahertz superconducting hot-electron bolometric mixers. Supercond. Sci. Technol., 17(5), 436–439.
Abstract: We present recent advances in the development of NbN hot-electron bolometric (HEB) mixers for flying terahertz heterodyne receivers. Three important issues have been addressed: the quality of the source NbN films, the effect of the bolometer size on the spectral properties of different planar feed antennas, and the local oscillator (LO) power required for optimal operation of the mixer. Studies of the NbN films with an atomic force microscope indicated a surface structure that may affect the performance of the smallest mixers. Measured spectral gain and noise temperature suggest that at frequencies above 2.5 THz the spiral feed provides better overall performance than the double-slot feed. Direct measurements of the optimal LO power support earlier estimates made in the framework of the uniform mixer model.
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Semenov, A., Richter, H., Hübers, H. - W., Smirnov, K., Voronov, B., & Gol'tsman, G. (2003). Development of terahertz superconducting hot-electron bolometer mixers. In Proc. 6th European Conf. Appl. Supercond. (Vol. 181, pp. 2960–2965).
Abstract: We present recent results of the development of phonon cooled hot-electron bolometric (HEB) mixers for airborne and balloon borne terahertz heterodyne receivers. Three iomportant issues have been addresses: the quality of NbN films the HEB mixers were made from, the spectral properties of the HEB mixers and the local oscillator power required for optical operation. Studies with an atomic force microscope indicate, that the performance of the HEB mixer might have been effected by the microstructure of the NbN film. Antenna gain and noise temperature were investigated at terahertz frequencies for a HEB embedded in either log-spiral or twin-slot feed antenna. Comparison suggests that at frequencies above 3 THz the spiral feed provides better overall performance. At 1.6 THz, a power of 2.5 µW was required from the local oscillator for optimal operation of the HEB mixer.
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Semenov, A. D., Hübers, H. - W., Richter, H., Birk, M., Krocka, M., Mair, U., et al. (2003). Superconducting hot-electron bolometer mixer for terahertz heterodyne receivers. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 13(2), 168–171.
Abstract: We present recent results showing the development of superconducting NbN hot-electron bolometer mixer for German receiver for astronomy at terahertz frequencies and terahertz limb sounder. The mixer is incorporated into a planar feed antenna, which has either logarithmic spiral or double-slot configuration, and backed on a silicon lens. The hybrid antenna had almost frequency independent and symmetric radiation pattern slightly broader than expected for a diffraction limited antenna. At 2.5 THz the best 2200 K double side-band receiver noise temperature was achieved across a 1 GHz intermediate frequency bandwidth centred at 1.5 GHz. For this operation regime, a receiver conversion efficiency of -17 dB was directly measured and the loss budget was evaluated. The mixer response was linear at load temperatures smaller than 400 K. Implementation of the MgO buffer layer on Si resulted in an increased 5.2 GHz gain bandwidth. The receiver was tested in the laboratory environment by measuring a methanol emission line at 2.5 THz.
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Vahtomin, Y. B., Finkel, M. I., Antipov, S. V., Voronov, B. M., Smirnov, K. V., Kaurova, N. S., et al. (2002). Gain bandwidth of phonon-cooled HEB mixer made of NbN thin film with MgO buffer layer on Si. In Harvard university (Ed.), Proc. 13th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 259–270). Cambridge, MA, USA.
Abstract: We present recently obtained values for gain bandwidth of NbN HEB mixers for different substrates and film thicknesses and for MgO buffer layer on Si at LO frequency of 0.85-1 THz. The maximal bandwidth, 5.2 GHz, was achieved for the device on MgO buffer layer on Si with a 2 nm thick NbN film. Functional devices based on NbN films of such thickness were fabricated for the first time due to an improvement of superconducting properties of NbN film deposited on MgO buffer layer on Si substrate.
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Semenov, A. D., Hübers, H. –W., Schubert, J., Gol'tsman, G. N., Elantiev, A. I., Voronov, B. M., et al. (2000). Frequency dependent noise temperature of the lattice cooled hot-electron terahertz mixer. In Proc. 11th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 39–48).
Abstract: We present the measurements and the theoretical model on the frequency dependent noise temperature of a lattice cooled hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer in the terahertz frequency range. The experimentally observed increase of the noise temperature with frequency is a cumulative effect of the non-uniform distribution of the high frequency current in the bolometer and the charge imbalance, which occurs near the edges of the normal domain and contacts with normal metal. In addition, we present experimental results which show that the noise temperature of a HEB mixer can be reduced by about 30% due to a Parylene antireflection coating on the Silicon hyperhemispheric lens.
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Seliverstov, S. V., Rusova, A. A., Kaurova, N. S., Voronov, B. M., & Goltsman, G. N. (2017). AC-biased superconducting NbN hot-electron bolometer for frequency-domain multiplexing. In Proc. 28th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 120–122).
Abstract: We present the results of characterization of fast and sensitive superconducting antenna-coupled THz direct detector based on NbN hot-electron bolometer (HEB) with AC-bias. We discuss the possibility of implementation of the AC-bias for design the readout system from the multi-element arrays of HEBs using standard technique of frequency-domain multiplexing. We demonstrate experimentally that this approach does not lead to significant deterioration of the HEB sensitivity compared with the value obtained for the same detector with DC- bias. Results of a numerical calculations of the HEB responsivity at AC-bias are in a good agreement with the experiment.
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Tretyakov, I. V., Anfertyev, V. A., Revin, L. S., Kaurova, N. S., Voronov, B. M., Vaks, V. L., et al. (2018). Sensitivity and resolution of a heterodyne receiver based on the NbN HEB mixer with a quantum-cascade laser as a local oscillator. Radiophys. Quant. Electron., 60(12), 988–992.
Abstract: We present the results of experimental studies of the basic characteristics and operation features of a terahertz heterodyne detector based on the superconducting NbN HEB mixer and a quantum cascade laser as a local oscillator operating at a frequency of 2.02 THz. The measured noise temperature of such a mixer amounted to 1500 K. The spectral resolution of the detector is determined by the width of the local-oscillator spectral line whose measured value does not exceed 1 MHz. The quantum-cascade laser could be linearly tuned with respect to frequency with the coefficient 7.2 MHz/mA within the limits of the current oscillation bandwidth.
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Gol'tsman, G. N., Vachtomin, Y. B., Antipov, S. V., Finkel, M. I., Maslennikov, S. N., Smirnov, K. V., et al. (2005). NbN phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometer mixer for terahertz heterodyne receivers. In Proc. SPIE (Vol. 5727, pp. 95–106).
Abstract: We present the results of our studies of NbN phonon-cooled HEB mixers at terahertz frequencies. The mixers were fabricated from NbN film deposited on a high-resistivity Si substrate with an MgO buffer layer. The mixer element was integrated with a log-periodic spiral antenna. The noise temperature measurements were performed at 2.5 THz and at 3.8 THz local oscillator frequencies for the 3 x 0.2 μm2 active area devices. The best uncorrected receiver noise temperatures found for these frequencies are 1300 K and 3100 K, respectively. A water vapour discharge laser was used as the LO source. The largest gain bandwidth of 5.2 GHz was achieved for a mixer based on 2 nm thick NbN film deposited on MgO layer over Si substrate. The gain bandwidth of the mixer based on 3.5 nm NbN film deposited on Si with MgO is 4.2 GHz and the noise bandwidth for the same device amounts to 5 GHz. We also present the results of our research into decrease of the direct detection contribution to the measured Y-factor and a possible error of noise temperature calculation. The use of a square nickel cell mesh as an IR-filter enabled us to avoid the effect of direct detection and measure apparent value of the noise temperature which was 16% less than that obtained using conventional black polyethylene IR-filter.
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Pentin, I. V., Smirnov, A. V., Ryabchun, S. A., Gol’tsman, G. N., Vaks, V. L., Pripolzin, S. I., et al. (2011). Heterodyne source of THz range based on semiconductor superlattice multiplier. In IRMMW-THz (pp. 1–2).
Abstract: We present the results of our studies of the possibility of developing a heterodyne receiver incorporating a hot-electron bolometer mixer as the detector and a semiconductor superlattice multiplier driven by a reference synthesizer as the local oscillator. We observe that such a local oscillator offers enough power in the terahertz range to pump the HEB into the operating state.
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Pentin, I. V., Smirnov, A. V., Ryabchun, S. A., Ozhegov, R. V., Gol’tsman, G. N., Vaks, V. L., et al. (2012). Semiconducting superlattice as a solid-state terahertz local oscillator for NbN hot-electron bolometer mixers. Tech. Phys., 57(7), 971–974.
Abstract: We present the results of our studies of the semiconducting superlattice (SSL) frequency multiplier and its application as part of the solid state local oscillator (LO) in the terahertz heterodyne receiver based on a NbN hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixer. We show that the SSL output power level increases as the ambient temperature is lowered to 4.2 K, the standard HEB operation temperature.
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Gao, J. R., Hajenius, M., Tichelaar, F. D., Voronov, B., Grishina, E., Klapwijk, T. M., et al. (2006). Can NbN films on 3C-SiC/Si change the IF bandwidth of hot electron bolometer mixers? In Proc. 17th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 187–189).
Abstract: We realized ultra thin NbN films sputtered grown on a 3C-SiC/Si substrate. The film with a thickness of 3.5-4.5 nm shows a 1', of 11.8 K, which is the highest I`, observed among ultra thin NbN films on different substrates. The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) studies show that the film has a monocrystalline structure, confirming the epitaxial growth on the 3C-SiC. Based on a two-temperature model and input parameters from standard NbN films on Si, simulations predict that the new film can increase the IF bandwidth of a HEB mixer by about a factor of 2 in comparison to the standard films. In addition, we find standard NbN films on Si with a T c of 9.4 K have a thickness of around 5.5 nm, being thicker than expected (3.5 nm).
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Tretyakov, I., Ryabchun, S., Finkel, M., Maslennikov, S., Maslennikova, A., Kaurova, N., et al. (2011). Ultrawide noise bandwidth of NbN hot-electron bolometer mixers with in situ gold contacts. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 21(3), 620–623.
Abstract: We report a noise bandwidth of 7 GHz in the new generation of NbN hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers that are being developed for the space observatory Millimetron. The HEB receiver driven by a 2.5-THz local oscillator offered a noise temperature of 600 K in a 50-MHz final detection bandwidth. As the filter center frequency was swept this value remained nearly constant up to the cutoff frequency of the cryogenic amplifier at 7 GHz. We believe that such a low value of the noise temperature is due to reduced radio frequency (RF) loss at the interface between the superconducting film and the gold contacts. We have also performed gain bandwidth measurements at the superconducting transition on HEB mixers with various lengths and found them to be in excellent agreement with the results of the analytical and numerical models developed for the HEB mixer with both diffusion and phonon cooling of hot electrons.
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Tretyakov, I., Ryabchun, S., Finkel, M., Maslennikova, A., Kaurova, N., Lobastova, A., et al. (2011). Low noise and wide bandwidth of NbN hot-electron bolometer mixers. Appl. Phys. Lett., 98, 033507 (1 to 3).
Abstract: We report a record double sideband noise temperature of 600 K (5hν/kB) offered by a NbN hot-electron bolometer receiver at 2.5 THz. Allowing for standing wave effects, this value was found to be constant in the intermediate frequency range 1–7 GHz, which indicates that the mixer has an unprecedentedly large noise bandwidth in excess of 7 GHz. The insight into this is provided by gain bandwidth measurements performed at the superconducting transition. They show that the dependence of the bandwidth on the mixer length follows the model for an HEB mixer with diffusion and phonon cooling of the hot electrons.
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Baubert, J., Salez, M., Delorme, Y., Pons, P., Goltsman, G., Merkel, H., et al. (2003). Membrane-based HEB mixer for THz applications. In J. - C. Chiao, V. K. Varadan, & C. Cané (Eds.), Proc. SPIE (Vol. 5116, pp. 551–562). SPIE.
Abstract: We report in this paper a new concept for 2.7 THz superconducting Niobium nitride (NbN) Hot-Electron Bolometer mixer (HEB). The membrane process was developped for space telecommnunication applications a few years ago and the HEB mixer concept is now considered as the best choice for low-noise submillimeter-wave frequency heterodyne receivers. The idea is then to join these two technologies. The novel fabrication scheme is to fabricate a NbN HEB mixer on a 1 μm thick stress-less Si3N4/SiO2 membrane. This seems to present numerous improvements concerning : use at higher RF frequencies, power coupling efficiency, HEB mixer sensitivity, noise temperature, and space applications. This work is to be continued within the framework of an ESA TRP project, a 2.7 THz heterodyne camera with numerous applications including a SOFIA airborne receiver. This paper presents the whole fabrication process, the validation tests and preliminary results. Membrane-based HEB mixer theory is currently being investigated and further tests such as heterodyne and Fourier transform spectrometry measurement are planed shortly.
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Zhang, W., Miao, W., Yao, Q. J., Lin, Z. H., Shi, S. C., Gao, J. R., et al. (2012). Spectral response and noise temperature of a 2.5 THz spiral antenna coupled NbN HEB mixer. Phys. Procedia, 36, 334–337.
Abstract: We report on a 2.5 THz spiral antenna coupled NbN hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers, fabricated with in-situ process. The receiver noise temperature with lowest value of 1180 K is in good agreement with calculated quantum efficiency factor as a function of bias voltage. In addition, the measured spectral response of the spiral antenna coupled NbN HEB mixer shows broad frequency coverage of 0.8-3 THz, and corrected response for optical losses, FTS, and coupling efficiency between antenna and bolometer falls with frequency due to diffraction-limited beam of lens/antenna combination.
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Ryabchun, S., Tong, C. -yu E., Blundell, R., Kimberk, R., & Gol’tsman, G. (2007). Stabilisation of a terahertz hot-electron bolometer mixer with microwave feedback control. In Proc. 18th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 193–198).
Abstract: We report on implementation of microwave feedback control loop to stabilise the performance of an HEB mixer receiver. It is shown that the receiver sensitivity increases by a factor of 4 over a 16-minute scan, and the corresponding Allan time increases up to 10 seconds, as opposed to an open loop value of 1 second. Our experiments also demonstrate that the receiver sensitivity is limited by the intermediate frequency chain.
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Gousev, Y. P., Olsson, H. K., Gol'tsman, G. N., Voronov, B. M., & Gershenzon, E. M. (1998). NbN hot-electron mixer at radiation frequencies between 0.9 THz and 1.2 THz. In Proc. 9th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 121–129).
Abstract: We report on noise temperature measurements for a NbN phonon-cooled hot-electron mixer at radiation frequencies between 0.9 THz and 1.2 THz. Radiation was coupled to the mixer, placed in a vacuum chamber of He cryostat, by means of a planar spiral antenna and a Si immersion lens. A backward-wave oscillator, tunable throughout the spectral range, delivered an output power of few 1.1W that was enough for optimum operation of the mixer. At 4.2 K ambient temperature and 1.025 THz radiation frequency, we obtained a receiver noise temperature of 1550 K despite of using a relatively noisy room-temperature amplifier at the intermediate frequency port. The noise temperature was fairly constant throughout the entire operation range and for intermediate frequencies from 1 GHz to 2 GHz.
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Schubert, J., Semenov, A., Gol'tsman, G., Hübers, H. - W., Schwaab, G., Voronov, B., et al. (1999). Noise temperature and sensitivity of a NbN hot-electron mixer at frequencies from 0.7 THz to 5.2 THz. In Proc. 10th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 190–199).
Abstract: We report on noise temperature measurements of a NbN phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometric mixer at different bias regimes. The device was a 3 nm thick bridge with in-plane dimensions of 1.7 x 0.2 gm 2 integrated in a complementary logarithmic spiral antenna. Measurements were performed at frequencies ranging from 0.7 THz up to 5.2 THz. The measured DSB noise temperatures are 1500 K (0.7 THz), 2200 K (1.4 THz), 2600 K (1.6 THz), 2900 K (2.5 THz), 4000 K (3.1 THz) 5600 K (4.3 THz) and 8800 K (5.2 THz). Two bias regimes are possible in order to achieve low noise temperatures. But only one of them yields sensitivity fluctuations close to the theoretical limit.
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Schubert, J., Semenov, A., Gol'tsman, G., Hübers, H. - W., Schwaab, G., Voronov, B., et al. (1999). Noise temperature of an NbN hot-electron bolometric mixer at frequencies from 0.7 THz to 5.2 THz. Supercond. Sci. Technol., 12(11), 748–750.
Abstract: We report on noise temperature measurements of an NbN phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometric mixer in the terahertz frequency range. The devices were 3 nm thick films with in-plane dimensions 1.7 × 0.2 µm2 and 0.9 × 0.2 µm2 integrated in a complementary logarithmic-spiral antenna. Measurements were performed at seven frequencies ranging from 0.7 THz to 5.2 THz. The measured DSB noise temperatures are 1500 K (0.7 THz), 2200 K (1.4 THz), 2600 K (1.6 THz), 2900 K (2.5 THz), 4000 K (3.1 THz), 5600 K (4.3 THz) and 8800 K (5.2 THz).
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Tretyakov, I., Seliverstov, S., Zolotov, P., Kaurova, N., Voronov, B., Finkel, M., et al. (2014). Noise temperature and noise bandwidth of hot-electron bolometer mixer at 3.8 THz. In Proc. 25th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (77).
Abstract: We report on our recent results of double sideband (DSB) noise temperature and bandwidth measurements of quasi-optical hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers at local oscillator frequency of 3.8 THz. The HEB mixers used in this work were made of a NbN thin film and had a superconducting transition temperature of about 10.3 K. To couple terahertz radiation, the NbN microbridge (0.2 μm long and 2 μm wide) was integrated with a planar logarithmic-spiral antenna. The mixer chip was glued to an elliptical Si lens clamped tightly to a mixer block mounted on the 4.2 K plate of a liquid helium cryostat. The terahertz radiation was fed into the HEB device through the cryostat window made of a 0.5 mm thick HDPE. A band-pass mesh filter was mounted on the 4.2 K plate to minimize the direct detection effect [1]. We used a gas discharge laser irradiating at 3.8 THz H 2 0 line as a local oscillator (LO). The LO power was combined with a black body broadband radiation via Mylar beam splitter. Our receiver allows heterodyne detection with an intermediate frequency (IF) of a several gigahertz which dictates usage of a wideband SiGe low noise amplifier [2]. The receiver IF output signal was further amplified at room temperature and fed into a square-law power detector through a band-pass filter. The DSB receiver noise temperature was measured using a conventional Y-factor technique at IF of 1.25 GHz and band of 40 MHz. Using wideband amplifiers at both cryogenic and room temperature stages we have estimated IF bandwidth of the HEB mixers used. The obtained results strengthen the position of the HEB mixer as one of the most important tools for submillimeter astronomy. This device operates well above the energy gap (at frequencies above 1 THz) where performance of state-of-the-art SIS mixers starts to degrade. So, HEB mixers are expected to be a device of choice in astrophysical observations (ground-, aircraft- and space-based) at THz frequencies due to its excellent noise performance and low LO power requirements. The HEB mixers will be in operation on Millimetron Space Observatory. References 1. J. J. A. Baselmans, A. Baryshev, S. F. Reker, M. Hajenius, J. R. Gao, T. M. Klapwijk, Yu. Vachtomin, S. Maslennikov, S. Antipov, B. Voronov, and G. Gol'tsman, Appl. Phys. Lett., 86, 163503 (2005). 2. Sander Weinreb, Life Fellow, IEEE, Joseph C. Bardin, Student Member, IEEE, and Hamdi Mani, “Design of Cryogenic SiGe Low-Noise Amplifiers”, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 55, 11, 2007.
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Yagubov, P., Gol'tsman, G., Voronov, B., Seidman, L., Siomash, V., Cherednichenko, S., et al. (1996). The bandwidth of HEB mixers employing ultrathin NbN films on sapphire substrate. In Proc. 7th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 290–302). Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
Abstract: We report on some unusual features observed during fabrication of ultrathin NbN films with high Tc. The films were used to fabricate HEB mixers, which were evaluated for IF bandwidth measurements at 140 GHz. Ultrathin films were fabricated using reactive dc magnetron sputtering with a discharge current source. Reproducible parameters of the films are assured keeping constant the difference between the discharge voltage in pure argon, and in a gas mixture, for the same current. A maximum bandwidth of 4 GHz at optimal LO and dc bias was obtained for mixer chip based on NbN film 35 A thick with Tc = 11 K.
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Ren, Y., Zhang, D. X., Zhou, K. M., Miao, W., Zhang, W., Shi, S. C., et al. (2019). 10.6 μm heterodyne receiver based on a superconducting hot-electron bolometer mixer and a quantum cascade laser. AIP Advances, 9(7), 075307.
Abstract: We report on the development of a heterodyne receiver at mid-infrared wavelength for high-resolution spectroscopy applications. The receiver employs a superconducting NbN hot electron bolometer as a mixer and a room temperature distributed feedback quantum cascade laser operating at 10.6 μm (28.2 THz) as a local oscillator. The stabilization of the heterodyne receiver has been achieved using a feedback loop controlling the output power of the laser. Improved Allan variance times as well as a double sideband receiver noise temperature of 5000 K and a noise bandwidth of 2.8 GHz of the receiver system are demonstrated.
The work is supported in part by the National Key R&D Program of China under Grant 2018YFA0404701, by the CAS program under Grant QYZDJ-SSW-SLH043 and GJJSTD20180003, by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under Grant 11773083, by the “Hundred Talents Program” of the “Pioneer Initiative”, and in part by the CAS Key Lab for Radio Astronomy.
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Hübers, H. - W., Semenov, A., Schubert, J., Gol'tsman, G., Voronov, B., & Gershenzon, E. (2000). Performance of the phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometric mixer between 0.7 THz and 5.2 THz. In Proc. 8-th Int. Conf. on Terahertz Electronics (pp. 117–119).
Abstract: We report on the phonon cooled NbN hot electron bolometer as mixer in the terahertz frequency range. Its hybrid antenna consists of a hyperhemispheric silicon lens and a logarithmic-spiral feed antenna. Noise temperatures have been measured between 0.7 THz and 5.2 THz. A quarter wavelength layer of Parylene works as antireflection coating for the silicon lens and reduces the noise temperature by about 30. It was found that the antenna pattern at 2.5 THz is determined by the feed antenna and not by the diameter of the lens.
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Antipov, S., Trifonov, A., Krause, S., Meledin, D., Kaurova, N., Rudzinski, M., et al. (2019). Improved bandwidth of a 2 THz hot-electron bolometer heterodyne mixer fabricated on sapphire with a GaN buffer layer. Supercond. Sci. Technol., 32(7), 075003.
Abstract: We report on the signal-to-noise and gain bandwidth of a niobium nitride (NbN) hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixer at 2 THz fabricated on a sapphire substrate with a GaN buffer layer. Two mixers with different DC properties and geometrical dimensions were studied and they demonstrated very close bandwidth performance. The signal-to-noise bandwidth is increased to 8 GHz in comparison to the previous results, obtained without a buffer-layer. The data were taken in a quasi-optical system with the use of the signal-to-noise method, which is close to the signal levels used in actual astrophysical observations. We find an increase of the gain bandwidth to 5 GHz. The results indicate that prior results obtained on a substrate of crystalline GaN can also be obtained on a conventional sapphire substrate with a few micron MOCVD-deposited GaN buffer-layer.
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Semenov, A., Richter, H., Hübers, H. - W., Petrenko, D., Tretyakov, I., Ryabchun, S., et al. (2014). Optimization of the intermediate frequency bandwidth in the THz HEB mixers. In Proc. 25th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (54).
Abstract: We report on the studies of the intermediate frequency (IF) bandwidth of quasi-optically coupled NbN hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers which are aimed at the optimization of the mixer performance at terahertz frequencies. Extension of the IF bandwidth due to the contribution of electron diffusion to the heat removal from NbN microbolometers has been already demonstrated for NbN HEBs at subterahertz frequencies. However, reducing the size of the microbolometer causes degradation of the noise temperature. Using in-situ multilayer manufacturing process we succeeded to improve the transparency of the contacts for electrons which go away from microbolometer to the metallic antenna. The improved transparency and hence coupling efficiency counterbalances the noise temperature degradation. HEB mixers were tested in a laboratory heterodyne receiver with a narrow-band cold filter which allowed us to eliminate direct detection. We used a local oscillator with a quantum cascade laser (QCL) at a frequency of 4.745 THz [1] which was developed for the H-Channel of the German Receiver for Astronomy at Terahertz frequencies (GREAT). Both the noise and gain bandwidth were measured in the IF range from 0.5 to 8 GHz using the hot-cold technique and preliminary calibrated IF analyzer with a tunable microwave filter. For optimized HEB geometry we found the noise bandwidth as large as 7 GHz. We compare our results with the conventional and the hot-spot mixer models and show that further extension of the IF bandwidth should be possible via improving the sharpness of the superconducting transition. The cross characterization of the HEB mixer was performed in the test bed of GREAT at the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie with the same QCL LO and delivered results which were consistent with the laboratory studies.
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Semenov, A. D., Gousev, Y. P., Nebosis, R. S., Renk, K. F., Yagoubov, P., Voronov, B. M., et al. (1996). Heterodyne detection of THz radiation with a superconducting hot‐electron bolometer mixer. Appl. Phys. Lett., 69(2), 260–262.
Abstract: We report on the use of a superconducting hot‐electron bolometer mixer for heterodyne detection of terahertz radiation. Radiation with a wavelength of 119 μm was coupled to the mixer, a NbN microbridge, by a hybrid quasioptical antenna consisting of an extended hyperhemispherical lens and a planar logarithmic spiral antenna. We found, at an intermediate frequency of 1.5 GHz, a system double side band noise temperature of ≊40 000 K and conversion losses of 25 dB. We also discuss the possibilities of further improvement of the mixer performance.
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Ryabchun, S., Tong, C. -yu E., Blundell, R., Kimberk, R., & Gol’tsman, G. (2006). Effect of microwave radiation on the stability of terahertz hot-electron bolometer mixers. In M. Anwar, A. J. DeMaria, & M. S. Shur (Eds.), Proc. SPIE (Vol. 6373, 63730J (1 to 5)). SPIE.
Abstract: We report our studies of the effect of microwave radiation, with a frequency much lower than that corresponding to the energy gap of the superconductor, on the performance of the NbN hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixer incorporated into a THz heterodyne receiver. It is shown that exposing the HEB mixer to microwave radiation does not result in a significant rise of the receiver noise temperature and degradation of the mixer conversion gain so long as the level of microwave power is small compared to the local oscillator drive. Hence the injection of a small, but controlled amount of microwave radiation enables active compensation of local oscillator power and coupling fluctuations which can significantly degrade the stability of HEB mixer receivers.
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Hajenius, M., Yang, Z. Q., Gao, J. R., Baselmans, J. J. A., Klapwijk, T. M., Voronov, B., et al. (2007). Optimized sensitivity of NbN hot electron bolometer mixers by annealing. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 17(2), 399–402.
Abstract: We report that the heterodyne sensitivity of superconducting hot-electron bolometers (HEBs) increases by 25-30% after annealing at 85degC in high vacuum. The devices studied are twin-slot antenna coupled mixers with a small area NbN bridge of 1 mum times 0.15 mum, above which there is a SiO 2 passivation layer. The mixer noise temperature, gain, and resistance versus temperature curve of a HEB before and after annealing are compared and analysed. We show that the annealing reduces the intrinsic noise of the mixer by 37% and makes the superconducting transition of the bridge and the contacts sharper. We argue that the reduction ofthe noise is mainly due to the improvement of the transparency of the contact/film interface. The lowest receiver noise temperature of 700 K is measured at a local oscillator frequency of 1.63 THz and at a bath temperature of 4.2 K.
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Shurakov, A., Tong, C. - Y. E., Blundell, R., Kaurova, N., Voronov, B., & Gol'tsman, G. (2013). Microwave stabilization of a HEB mixer in a pulse-tube cryocooler. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 23(3), 1501504.
Abstract: We report the results of our study of the stability of an 800 GHz hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer cooled with a pulse-tube cryocooler. Pulse-tube cryocoolers introduce temperature fluctuations as well as mechanical vibrations at a frequency of ~1 Hz, both of which can cause receiver gain fluctuations at that frequency. In our system, the motor of the cryocooler was separated from the cryostat to minimize mechanical vibrations, leaving thermal effects as the dominant source of the receiver gain fluctuations. We measured root mean square temperature variations of the 4 K stage of ~7 mK. The HEB mixer was pumped by a solid state local oscillator at 810 GHz. The root mean square current fluctuations at the low noise operating point (1.50 mV, 56.5 μA) were ~0.12 μA, and were predominantly due to thermal fluctuations. To stabilize the bias current, microwave radiation was injected to the HEB mixer. The injected power level was set by a proportional-integral-derivative controller, which completely compensates for the bias current oscillations induced by the pulse-tube cryocooler. Significant improvement in the Allan variance of the receiver output power was obtained, and an Allan time of 5 s was measured.
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Il'in, K. S., Cherednichenko, S. I., Gol'tsman, G. N., Currie, M., & Sobolewski, R. (1998). Comparative study of the bandwidth of phonon-cooled NbN hot-electron bolometers in submillimeter and optical wavelength ranges. In Proc. 9th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 323–330).
Abstract: We report the results of the bandwidth measurements of NbN hot-electron bolometers, perfomied in the terahertz frequency domain at 140 GHz and 660 GHz and in time domain in the optical range at the wavelength of 395 nm.. Our studies were done on 3.5-nm-thick NbN films evaporated on sapphire substrates and patterned into ilin-size microbridges. In order to measure the gain bandwidth, we used two identical BWOs (140 or 660 GHz), one functioning as a local oscillator and the other as a signal source. The bandwidth we achieved was 3.5-4 GHz at 4.2 K with the optimal LO and DC biases. Time-domain measurements with a resolution below 300 fs were performed using an electro-optic sampling system, in the temperature range between 4.2 K to 9 K at various values of the bias current and optical power. The obtained response time of the NbN hot-electron bolometer to —100- fs-wide Ti:sapphire laser pulses was about 27 ps, what corresponds to the 5.9 GHz gain bandwidth.
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Semenov, A., Richter, H., Smirnov, A., Günther, B., Hübers, H. - W., Il’in, K., et al. (2007). Development of HEB mixers for GREAT and for security screening. In Proc. 18th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (184).
Abstract: We report the study on the quasioptical coupling efficiency and the gain bandwidth of NbN hot-electron bolometer mixers developed for the 4.7 THz channel of the German receiver for Astronomy at THz-frequencies (GREAT) and for security screening at subterahertz frequencies. Radiation coupling efficiency and directive properties of integrated lens antennas with log-spiral, log-periodic and double-slot planar feeds coupled to a hot-electron bolometer were experimentally studied at frequencies from 1 THz to 6 THz and compared with simulations based on the method of moments and the physical-optics ray tracing. For all studied antennas the modeled spectral dependence of the coupling efficiency fits to the experimental data obtained with both Fourier transform spectroscopy and noise temperature measurements only if the complex impedance of the bolometer is explicitly taken into account. Our experimental data did not indicate any noticeable contribution of the quantum noise to the system noise temperature. The experimentally observed deviation of the beam pattern from the model prediction increases with frequency and is most likely due to a non- ideality of the presently used lenses. Study of the intermediate frequency mixer gain at local oscillator (LO) frequencies between 2.5 THz and 0.3 THz showed an increase of the gain bandwidth at low LO frequencies that was understood as the contribution of the direct interaction of magnetic vortices with the radiation field. We have found that the non- homogeneous hot-spot model more adequately describes variation of the intermediate frequency bandwidth with the applied local oscillator power than any of uniform mixer models. The state-of-the-day performance of the GREAT 4.7-THz channel and the 0.8-THz security scanner will be presented.
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Gol'tsman, G. N., & Loudkov, D. N. (2003). Terahertz superconducting hot-electron bolometer mixers and their application in radio astronomy. Radiophys. Quant. Electron., 46(8/9), 604–617.
Abstract: We review the latest developments, research, and radioastronomy applications of hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers operated in the terahertz waveband. The physical principles of operation of terahertz HEB mixers are presented, their manufacturing from ultrathin NbN films, the main HEB-mixer parameters and their measurement techniques are discussed, and practical terahertz radioastronomy projects based on heterodyne receivers with HEB mixers are considered.
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Seliverstov, S. V., Anfertyev, V. A., Tretyakov, I. V., Ozheredov, I. A., Solyankin, P. M., Revin, L. S., et al. (2017). Terahertz heterodyne receiver with an electron-heating mixer and a heterodyne based on the quantum-cascade laser. Radiophys. Quant. Electron., 60(7), 518–524.
Abstract: We study characteristics of the laboratory prototype of a terahertz heterodyne receiver with an electron-heating mixer and a heterodyne based on the quantum-cascade laser. The results obtained demonstrate the possibility to use this receiver as a basis for creation of a high-sensitivity terahertz spectrometer, which can be used in many basic and practical applications. A significant advantage of this receiver will be the possibility of placing the mixer and heterodyne in the same cryostat, which will reduce the device dimensions considerably. The obtained experimental results are analyzed, and methods of optimizing the parameters of the receiver are proposed.
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Hajenius, M., Baselmans, J. J. A., Gao, J. R., Klapwijk, T. M., de Korte 2, P. A. J., Voronov, B., et al. (2004). Increased bandwidth of NbN phonon cooled hot electron bolometer mixers. In Proc. 15th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 381–386).
Abstract: We study experimentally the IF gain bandwidth of NbN phonon-cooled hot-electron-bolometer (HEB) mixers for a set of devices with different contact structures but an identical NbN film. We observe that the IF bandwidth depends strongly on the exact contact structure and find an IF gain bandwidth of 6 GHz for a device with an additional superconducting layer (NbTiN) in between the active NbN film and the gold contact to the antenna. These results contradict the common opinion that the IF bandwidth is determined by the phonon-escape time between the NbN film and the substrate. Hence we calculate the IF gain bandwidth of a superconducting film using a two-temperature model. We find that the bandwidth increases strongly with operating temperature and is not limited by the phonon escape time. This is because of strong temperature dependence of the phonon specific heat in the NbN film.
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Baselmans, J. J. A., Hajenius, M., Gao, J. R., Baryshev, A., Kooi, J., Klapwijk, T. M., et al. (2004). Hot electron bolometer mixers with improved interfaces: sensitivity, LO power and stability. In Proc. 15th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 17–24).
Abstract: We study twin slot antenna coupled NbN hot electron bolometer mixers with an improved contact structure and a small volume, ranging from 1 µm × 0.1 µm to 2 × 0.3 µm. We obtain a DSB receiver noise temperature of 900 K at 1.6 THz and 940 K at 1.9 THz. To explore the practical usability of such small HEB mixers we evaluate the LO power requirement, the sensitivity and the stability. We find that the LO power requirement of the smallest mixers is reduced to about 240 nW at the Si lens of the mixer. This value is larger than expected from the isothermal technique and the known losses in the lens by a factor of 3-3.5. The stability of these receivers is characterized using a measurement of the Allan Variance. We find an Allan time of 0.5 sec. in an 80 MHz bandwidth. A small increase in stability can be reached by using a higher bias at the expense of a significant amount of sensitivity. The stability is sufficient for spectroscopic applications in a 1 MHz bandwidth at a 1 Hz chopping frequency.
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Вахтомин, Ю. Б., Антипов, С. В., Масленников, С. Н., Смирнов, К. В., Поляков, С. Л., Чжан, В., et al. (2006). Квазиоптические смесители терагерцового диапазона на основе эффекта разогрева электронов в тонких пленках NbN. In Proc. 16th Int. Crimean Microwave and Telecommunication Technology (Vol. 2, pp. 688–689).
Abstract: Представлены результаты измерения рактеристик смесителей на эффекте разогрева электронов в тонких сверхпроводниковых пленках NbN. Смесители были изготовлены на основе пленок NbN толщиной 2-3.5 нм осажденных на кремниевую подложку с буферным подсло- ем MgO. Смесительный элемент согласовывался с планар- ной логопериодической спиральной антенной. Лучшее зна- чение шумовой температуры приемника на основе NbN смесителя составило 1300 К и 3100 К на частотах гетеро- дина 2.5 TГц и 3.8 ТГц, соответственно. Максимальное зна- чение полосы преобразования, измеренной на частоте 900 |Ц, достигло значения 5.2 ГГц для смесителя изготовлен- ного из NbN пленки толщиной 2 нм. Оптимальная мощность Представлены результаты измерения ха- гетеродинного источника составила 1-3 мкВт для смесите- лей с различным объемом смесительного элемента.
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