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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Shcherbatenko, M., Tretyakov, I., Lobanov, Y., Maslennikov, S. N., Kaurova, N., Finkel, M., et al. (2016). Nonequilibrium interpretation of DC properties of NbN superconducting hot electron bolometers. Appl. Phys. Lett., 109(13), 132602.
Abstract: We present a physically consistent interpretation of the dc electrical properties of niobiumnitride (NbN)-based superconducting hot-electron bolometer mixers, using concepts of nonequilibrium superconductivity. Through this, we clarify what physical information can be extracted from the resistive transition and the dc current-voltage characteristics, measured at suitably chosen temperatures, and relevant for device characterization and optimization. We point out that the intrinsic spatial variation of the electronic properties of disordered superconductors, such as NbN, leads to a variation from device to device.
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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. (1999). Non-thermal response of a diffusion-cooled hot-electron bolometer. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 9(2), 4491–4494.
Abstract: We present an analysis of a diffusion-cooled hot-electron bolometer in the limiting case of a weak thermalization of non-equilibrium quasiparticles. We propose a new model relying on the non-thermal suppression of the superconducting energy gap by excess quasiparticles. Using material parameters typical for Al, we evaluate performance of the bolometer in the heterodyne regime at terahertz frequencies. Estimates show that the mixer may have quantum limited noise temperature and a few tens of GHz bandwidth, while the required local oscillator power is in the /spl mu/W range due to in-effective suppression of the energy gap by quasiparticles with high energies.
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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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Cherednichenko, S., Rönnung, F., Gol’tsman, G., Kollberg, E., & Winkler, D. (2000). YBa2Cu3O7-δ hot-electron bolometer mixer at 0.6 THz. In Proc. 11th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 517–522).
Abstract: We present an investigation of hot-electron bolometric mixer based on a YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ (YBCO) superconducting thin film. Mixer conversion loss of –46 dB, absorbed local oscillator power and intermediate frequency bandwidth were measured at the local oscillator frequency 0.6 THz. The fabrication technique for nanoscale YBCO hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixer integrated with a planar antenna structure is described.
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Cherednichenko, S., Rönnung, F., Gol'tsman, G., Kollberg, E., & Winkler, D. (2000). YBa2Cu3O7−δ hot-electron bolometer mixer. Phys. C: Supercond., 341-348, 2653–2654.
Abstract: We present an investigation of hot-electron bolometric mixer based on YBa2Cu3O7−δ (YBCO) superconducting thin film. Mixer conversion loss, absorbed local oscillator power and intermediate frequency bandwidth was measured at the local oscillator frequency 600 GHz. The fabrication technique for nanoscale YBCO hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixer integrated into planar antenna structure is described.
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Chavarr'ıa, L., Herpin, F., Jacq, T., Braine, J., Bontemps, S., Baudry, A., et al. (2010). Water in massive star-forming regions: HIFI observations of W3 IRS5. Astron. Astrophys., 521, L37 (1 to 5).
Abstract: We present Herschel observations of the water molecule in the massive star-forming region W3 IRS5. The o-H217O 110-101, p-H218O 111-000, p-H2O 202-111, p-H2O 111-000, o-H2O 221-212, and o-H2O 212-101 lines, covering a frequency range from 552 up to 1669 GHz, have been detected at high spectral resolution with HIFI. The water lines in W3 IRS5 show well-defined high-velocity wings that indicate a clear contribution by outflows. Moreover, the systematically blue-shifted absorption in the H2O lines suggests expansion, presumably driven by the outflow. No infall signatures are detected. The p-H2O 111-000 and o-H2O 212-101 lines show absorption from the cold material (T ~ 10 K) in which the high-mass protostellar envelope is embedded. One-dimensional radiative transfer models are used to estimate water abundances and to further study the kinematics of the region. We show that the emission in the rare isotopologues comes directly from the inner parts of the envelope (T â‰<b3> 100 K) where water ices in the dust mantles evaporate and the gas-phase abundance increases. The resulting jump in the water abundance (with a constant inner abundance of 10-4) is needed to reproduce the o-H217O 110-101 and p-H218O 111-000 spectra in our models. We estimate water abundances of 10-8 to 10-9 in the outer parts of the envelope (T â‰<b2> 100 K). The possibility of two protostellar objects contributing to the emission is discussed.
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Loenen, A. F., van der Werf, P. P., Güsten, R., Meijerink, R., Israel, F. P., Requena-Torres, M. A., et al. (2010). Excitation of the molecular gas in the nuclear region of M 82. Astron. Astrophys., 521, L2.
Abstract: We present high-resolution HIFI spectroscopy of the nucleus of the archetypical starburst galaxy M 82. Six 12CO lines, 2 13CO lines and 4 fine-structure lines have been detected. Besides showing the effects of the overall velocity structure of the nuclear region, the line profiles also indicate the presence of multiple components with different optical depths, temperatures, and densities in the observing beam. The data have been interpreted using a grid of PDR models. It is found that the majority of the molecular gas is in low density (n = 103.5 cm-3) clouds, with column densities of NH = 1021.5 cm-2 and a relatively low UV radiation field (G0 = 102). The remaining gas is predominantly found in clouds with higher densities (n = 105 cm-3) and radiation fields (G0 = 102.75), but somewhat lower column densities (NH = 1021.2 cm-2). The highest J CO lines are dominated by a small (1% relative surface filling) component, with an even higher density (n = 106 cm-3) and UV field (G0 = 103.25). These results show the strength of multi-component modelling for interpretating the integrated properties of galaxies.
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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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Korneev, A., Finkel, M., Maslennikov, S., Korneeva, Y., Florya, I., Tarkhov, M., et al. (2010). Superconducting NbN terahertz detectors and infrared photon counters. Вестник НГУ. Серия: физ., 5(4), 68–72.
Abstract: We present our recent achievements in the development of sensitive and ultrafast thin-film superconducting sensors: hot-electron bolometers (HEB), HEB-mixers for terahertz range and infrared single-photon counters. These sensors have already demonstrated a performance that makes them devices-of-choice for many terahertz and optical applications. Keywords: Hot electron bolometer mixers, infrared single-photon detectors, superconducting device fabrication, superconducting NbN films.
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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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Mookerjea, B., Giesen, T., Stutzki, J., Cernicharo, J., Goicoechea, J. R., De Luca, M., et al. (2010). Excitation and abundance of C3 in star forming cores. Herschel/HIFI observations of the sight-lines to W31C and W49N. Astron. Astrophys., 521, L13.
Abstract: We present spectrally resolved observations of triatomic carbon (C3) in several ro-vibrational transitions between the vibrational ground state and the low-energy ν2 bending mode at frequencies between 1654–1897 GHz along the sight-lines to the submillimeter continuum sources W31C and W49N, using Herschel's HIFI instrument. We detect C3 in absorption arising from the warm envelope surrounding the hot core, as indicated by the velocity peak position and shape of the line profile. The sensitivity does not allow to detect C3 absorption due to diffuse foreground clouds. From the column densities of the rotational levels in the vibrational ground state probed by the absorption we derive a rotation temperature (Trot) of ~50-70 K, which is a good measure of the kinetic temperature of the absorbing gas, as radiative transitions within the vibrational ground state are forbidden. It is also in good agreement with the dust temperatures for W31C and W49N. Applying the partition function correction based on the derived Trot, we get column densities N(C3) ~ 7–9 × 1014 cm-2 and abundance x(C3) ~ 10-8 with respect to H2. For W31C, using a radiative transfer model including far-infrared pumping by the dust continuum and a temperature gradient within the source along the line of sight we find that a model with x(C3) = 10-8, Tkin = 30–50 K, N(C3) = 1.5 × 1015 cm-2 fits the observations reasonably well and provides parameters in very good agreement with the simple excitation analysis.
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Crockett, N. R., Bergin, E. A., Wang, S., Lis, D. C., Bell, T. A., Blake, G. A., et al. (2010). Herschel observations of EXtra-Ordinary Sources (HEXOS): The Terahertz spectrum of Orion KL seen at high spectral resolution. Annual Rev. Astron. Astrophys., 521, L21 (1 to 5).
Abstract: We present the first high spectral resolution observations of Orion KL in the frequency ranges 1573.4–1702.8 GHz (band 6b) and 1788.4–1906.8 GHz (band 7b) obtained using the HIFI instrument on board the Herschel Space Observatory. We characterize the main emission lines found in the spectrum, which primarily arise from a range of components associated with Orion KL including the hot core, but also see widespread emission from components associated with molecular outflows traced by H2O, SO2, and OH. We find that the density of observed emission lines is significantly diminished in these bands compared to lower frequency Herschel/HIFI bands.
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Velusamy, T., Langer, W. D., Pineda, J. L., Goldsmith, P. F., Li, D., & Yorke, H. W. (2010). [CII] observations of H2 molecular layers in transition clouds. Astron. Astrophys., 521, L18.
Abstract: We present the first results on the diffuse transition clouds observed in [CII] line emission at 158 μm (1.9 THz) towards Galactic longitudes near 340° (5 LOSs) & 20° (11 LOSs) as part of the HIFI tests and GOT C+ survey. Out of the total 146 [CII] velocity components detected by profile fitting we identify 53 as diffuse molecular clouds with associated 12CO emission but without 13CO emission and characterized by AV < 5 mag. We estimate the fraction of the [CII] emission in the diffuse HI layer in each cloud and then determine the [CII] emitted from the molecular layers in the cloud. We show that the excess [CII] intensities detected in a few clouds is indicative of a thick H2 layer around the CO core. The wide range of clouds in our sample with thin to thick H2 layers suggests that these are at various evolutionary states characterized by the formation of H2 and CO layers from HI and C+, respectively. In about 30% of the clouds the H2 column densities (“dark gasâ€) traced by the [CII] is 50% or more than that traced by 12CO emission. On the average ~25% of the total H2 in these clouds is in an H2 layer which is not traced by CO. We use the HI, [CII], and 12CO intensities in each cloud along with simple chemical models to obtain constraints on the FUV fields and cosmic ray ionization rates.
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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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Semenov, A. D., Hübers, H. - W., Schubert, J., Gol'tsman, G. N., Elantiev, A. I., Voronov, B. M., et al. (2000). Design and performance of the lattice-cooled hot-electron terahertz mixer. J. Appl. Phys., 88(11), 6758–6767.
Abstract: We present the measurements and the theoreticalmodel of the frequency-dependent noise temperature of a superconductor lattice-cooled hot-electron bolometer mixer in the terahertz frequency range. The increase of the noise temperature with frequency is a cumulative effect of the nonuniform distribution of the high-frequency current in the bolometer and the charge imbalance, which occurs at the edges of the normal domain and at the contacts with normal metal. We show that under optimal operation the fluctuation sensitivity of the mixer is determined by thermodynamic fluctuations of the noise power, whereas at small biases there appears additional noise, which is probably due to the flux flow. We propose the prescription of how to minimize the influence of the current distribution on the mixer performance.
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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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Ryabchun, S., Tong, C. - Y. E., Paine, S., Lobanov, Y., Blundell, R., & Goltsman, G. (2009). Temperature resolution of an HEB receiver at 810 GHz. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 19(3), 293–296.
Abstract: We present the results of direct measurements of the temperature resolution of an HEB receiver operating at 810 GHz, in both continuum and spectroscopic modes. In the continuum mode, the input of the receiver was switched between black bodies with different physical temperatures. With a system noise temperature of around 1100 K, the receiver was able to resolve loads which differed in temperature by about 1 K over an integration time of 5 seconds. This resolution is significantly worse than the value of 0.07 K given by the radiometer equation. In the spectroscopic mode, a gas cell filled with carbonyl sulphide (OCS) gas was used and the emission line at 813.3537060 GHz was measured using the receiver in conjunction with a digital spectrometer. From the observed spectra, we determined that the measurement uncertainty of the equivalent emission temperature was 2.8 K for an integration time of 0.25 seconds and a spectral resolution of 12 MHz, compared to a 1.4 K temperature resolution given by the radiometer equation. This relative improvement is due to the fact that at short integration times the contribution from 1/f noise and drift are less dominant. In both modes, the temperature resolution was improved by about 40% with the use of a feedback loop which adjusted the level of an injected microwave radiation to maintain a constant operating current of the HEB mixer. This stabilization scheme has proved to be very effective to keep the temperature resolution of the HEB receiver to close to the theoretical value given by the radiometer equation.
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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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Vachtomin, Y. B., Antipov, S. V., Maslennikov, S. N., Smirnov, K. V., Polyakov, S. L., Kaurova, N. S., et al. (2004). Noise temperature measurements of NbN phonon-cooled hot electron bolometer mixer at 2.5 and 3.8 THz. In Proc. 15th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 236–241). Northampton, Massachusetts, USA.
Abstract: We present the results of noise temperature measurements of NbN phonon-cooled HEB mixers based on a 3.5 nm NbN film deposited on a high-resistivity Si substrate with a 200 nm – thick 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 µm x 0.2 µm 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. We also present the results of direct detection contribution to the measured Y-factor and of a possible error of noise temperature calculation. This error was more than 8% for the mixer with in-plane dimensions of 2.4 x 0.16 µm 2 at the optimal noise temperature point. The use of a mesh filter enabled us to avoid the effect of direct detection and decrease optical losses by 0.5 dB. The paper is concluded by the investigation results of the mixer polarization response. It was shown that the polarization can differ from the circular one at 3.8 THz by more than 2 dB.
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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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Hartogh, P., Jarchow, C., Lellouch, E., de Val-Borro, M., Rengel, M., Moreno, R., et al. (2010). Herschel/HIFI observations of Mars: First detection of O2 at submillimetre wavelengths and upper limits on HCl and H2O2. Astron. Astrophys., 521, L49.
Abstract: We report on an initial analysis of Herschel/HIFI observations of hydrogen chloride (HCl), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and molecular oxygen (O2) in the Martian atmosphere performed on 13 and 16 April 2010 (Ls ~ 77°). We derived a constant volume mixing ratio of 1400 ± 120 ppm for O2 and determined upper limits of 200 ppt for HCl and 2 ppb for H2O2. Radiative transfer model calculations indicate that the vertical profile of O2 may not be constant. Photochemical models determine the lowest values of H2O2 to be around Ls ~ 75° but overestimate the volume mixing ratio compared to our measurements.
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Shcherbatenko, M., Lobanov, Y., Benderov, O., Shurakov, A., Ignatov, A., Titova, N., et al. (2015). Antenna-coupled 30 THz hot electron bolometer mixers. In Proc. 26th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (27).
Abstract: We report on design and characterization of a superconducting Hot Electron Bolometer Mixer integrated with a logarithmic spiral antenna for mid-IR range observations. The antenna parameters have been adjusted to achieve the ultimate performance at 10 µm (30 THz) range where O3, NH3, CO2, CH4, N2O,…. lines in the Earth’s atmosphere, in planetary atmospheres and in the interstellar space can be observed. The HEB mixer is made of a thin NbN film deposited onto a GaAs substrate. To couple the radiation we rely on the quasioptical approach: the device is glued to a semi-spherical germanium lens with diameter~ 3 mm. A wet cryostat equipped with a germanium window and narrow band-pass filter is used to characterize the antenna and estimate the mixer performance.
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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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Cherednichenko, S., Drakinskiy, V., Berg, T., Khosropanah, P., & Kollberg, E. (2008). Hot-electron bolometer terahertz mixers for the Herschel Space Observatory. Rev. Sci. Instrum., 79, 034501.
Abstract: We report on low noise terahertz mixers(1.4–1.9THz) developed for the heterodyne spectrometer onboard the Herschel Space Observatory. The mixers employ double slot antenna integrated superconducting hot-electron bolometers (HEBs) made of thin NbN films. The mixer performance was characterized in terms of detection sensitivity across the entire rf band by using a Fourier transform spectrometer (from 0.5to2.5THz, with 30GHz resolution) and also by measuring the mixernoise temperature at a limited number of discrete frequencies. The lowest mixernoise temperature recorded was 750K [double sideband (DSB)] at 1.6THz and 950KDSB at 1.9THz local oscillator (LO) frequencies. Averaged across the intermediate frequency band of 2.4–4.8GHz, the mixernoise temperature was 1100KDSB at 1.6THz and 1450KDSB at 1.9THz LO frequencies. The HEB heterodyne receiver stability has been analyzed and compared to the HEB stability in the direct detection mode. The optimal local oscillator power was determined and found to be in a 200–500nW range.
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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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Tretyakov, I. V., Finkel, M. I., Ryabchun, S. A., Kardakova, A. I., Seliverstov, S. V., Petrenko, D. V., et al. (2014). Hot-electron bolometer mixers with in situ contacts. Radiophys. Quant. Electron., 56(8-9), 591–598.
Abstract: We report on the latest achievements in the development of superconducting hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers for terahertz superheterodyne receivers. We consider application ranges of such receivers and requirements for the basic characteristics of the mixers. Main features of the mixers, such as noise temperature, gain bandwidth, noise bandwidth, and required local-oscillator power, have been improved significantly over the past few years due to intense research work, both in terms of the element fabrication quality and in terms of understanding of the physics of the processes occurring in the HEB mixers. Contacts between the superconducting bridge and the planar antenna play a key role in the mixer operation. Improvement of the quality of the contacts leads simultaneously to a decrease in the noise temperature and an increase in the gain bandwidth of a mixer.
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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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Il'in, K. S., Gol'tsman, G. N., Voronov, B. M., & Sobolewski, R. (1999). Characterization of the electron energy relaxation process in NbN hot-electron devices. In Proc. 10th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 390–397).
Abstract: We report on transient measurements of electron energy relaxation in NbN films with 300-fs time resolution. Using an electro-optic sampling technique, we have studied the photoresponse of 3.5-nm-thick NbN films deposited on sapphire substrates and exposed to 100-fs-wide optical pulses. Our experimental data analysis was based on the two-temperature model and has shown that in our films at the superconducting transition 10.5 K the inelastic electron-phonon scattering time was about (111}+-__.2) ps. This response time indicated that the maximum intermediate-frequency band of a NbN hot-electron phonon-cooled mixer should reach (16+41-3) GHz if one eliminates the bolometric phonon-heating effect. We have suggested several ways to increase the effectiveness of phonon cooling to achieve the above intrinsic value of the NbN mixer bandwidth.
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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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Maslennikov, S. (2014). RF heating efficiency of the terahertz superconducting hot-electron bolometer. arXiv, 1404.5276, arXiv:1404.5276.
Abstract: We report results of the numerical solution by the Euler method of the system of heat balance equations written in recurrent form for the superconducting hot-electron bolometer (HEB) embedded in an electrical circuit. By taking into account the dependence of the HEB resistance on the transport current we have been able to calculate rigorously the RF heating efficiency, absorbed local oscillator (LO) power and conversion gain of the HEB mixer. We show that the calculated conversion gai nis in excellent agreement with the experimental results, and that the substitution of the calculated RF heating efficiency and absorbed LO power into the expressions for the conversion gain and noise temperature given by the analytical small-signal model of the HEB yields excellent agreement with the corresponding measured values
Keywords: superconducting hot-electron bolometer mixer, HEB, NbN, distributed model, HEB model, HEB mixer model, heat balance equa-tions, conversion gain, RF heating efficiency, noise temperature, simulation, Euler method
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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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Melnick, G. J., Tolls, V., Neufeld, D. A., Bergin, E. A., Phillips, T. G., Wang, S., et al. (2010). Herschel observations of EXtra-Ordinary Sources (HEXOS): Observations of H2O and its isotopologues towards Orion KL. Astron. Astrophys., 521, L27.
Abstract: We report the detection of more than 48 velocity-resolved ground rotational state transitions of H216O, H218O, and H217O – most for the first time – in both emission and absorption toward Orion KL using Herschel/HIFI. We show that a simple fit, constrained to match the known emission and absorption components along the line of sight, is in excellent agreement with the spectral profiles of all the water lines. Using the measured H218O line fluxes, which are less affected by line opacity than their H216O counterparts, and an escape probability method, the column densities of H218O associated with each emission component are derived. We infer total water abundances of 7.4 × 10-5, 1.0 × 10-5, and 1.6 × 10-5 for the plateau, hot core, and extended warm gas, respectively. In the case of the plateau, this value is consistent with previous measures of the Orion-KL water abundance as well as those of other molecular outflows. In the case of the hot core and extended warm gas, these values are somewhat higher than water abundances derived for other quiescent clouds, suggesting that these regions are likely experiencing enhanced water-ice sublimation from (and reduced freeze-out onto) grain surfaces due to the warmer dust in these sources.
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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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de Lange, G., Krieg, J. - M., Honingh, N., Karpov, A., & Cherednichenko, S. (2008). Performance of the HIFI flight mixers. In Proc. 19th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 98–105).
Abstract: We summarize the technology and final results of the superconducting heterodyne SIS and HEB mixers that are developed for the HIFI instrument. Within HIFI 7 frequency bands cover the frequency range from 480 GHz to 1910 GHz. We describe the different device technologies and optical coupling schemes that are used to cover the frequency bands. The efforts of the different mixer teams that participate in HIFI have contributed to an instrument that will have unprecedented sensitivity and frequency coverage.
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Масленникова, А. В., Рябчун, С. А., Финкель, М. И., Каурова, Н. С., Исупова, А. А., Воронов, Б. М., et al. (2011). Широкополосные смесители на горячих электронах на основе NbN наноструктур. Труды МФТИ, 3(2), 31–34.
Abstract: Мы приводим данные исследования полосы преобразования смесителей на горячих электронах (hot-electron bolometer, НЕВ), изготовленных на основе тонких пленок NbN. Зависимость полосы преобразования от длины смесительного элемента находится в прекрасном согласии с результатами теоретической модели HEB-смесителя, в котором энергетическая релаксация электронов одновременно происходит по двум каналам: фононному и диффузионному.
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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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Рябчун, С. А., Третьяков, И. В., Пентин, И. В., Каурова, Н. С., Селезнев, В. А., Воронов, Б. М., et al. (2009). Малошумящий широкополосный терагерцовый смеситель на эффекте электронного разогрева в плёнке NbN. Известия высших учебных заведений. Радиофизика, 52(8), 641–648.
Abstract: Разработан и исследован смеситель на горячих электронах, изготовленный из двуслойной плёнки NbN-Au, осаждённой на кремневую подложку in situ. Двухполосная шумовая температура устройства составила 750 К на частоте 2.5 ТГц. Измерения эффективности преобразования для смесителя длиной 0.112 мкм вблизи температуры сверхпроводящего перехода показали полосу промежуточных частот около 6.5 ГГц. Эти результаты являются рекордными и были получены за счёт улучшения контактов между чувствительным элементом и спиральной антенной при замене технологического маршрута с нанесением слоёв NbN и Au в отдельных процессах на технологический процесс, в котором данные слои наносятся in situ без нарушения вакуума.
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