toggle visibility Search & Display Options

Select All    Deselect All
 |   | 
Details
   print
  Records Links
Author Trifonov, A.; Tong, C.-Y. E.; Blundell, R.; Ryabchun, S.; Gol'tsman, G. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Probing the stability of HEB mixers with microwave injection Type Journal Article
  Year 2015 Publication IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Abbreviated Journal IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond.  
  Volume 25 Issue 3 Pages 2300404 (1 to 4)  
  Keywords NbN HEB mixer, stability, Allan-variance  
  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%.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN (up) 1051-8223 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Serial 1355  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Hajenius, M.; Barends, R.; Gao, J. R.; Klapwijk, T. M.; Baselmans, J. J. A.; Baryshev, A.; Voronov, B.; Gol'tsman, G. doi  openurl
  Title Local resistivity and the current-voltage characteristics of hot electron bolometer mixers Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Abbreviated Journal IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond.  
  Volume 15 Issue 2 Pages 495-498  
  Keywords HEB mixer distributed model, HEB distributed model, distributed HEB model  
  Abstract Hot-electron bolometer devices, used successfully in low noise heterodyne mixing at frequencies up to 2.5 THz, have been analyzed. A distributed temperature numerical model of the NbN bridge, based on a local electron and a phonon temperature, is used to model pumped IV curves and understand the physical conditions during the mixing process. We argue that the mixing is predominantly due to the strongly temperature dependent local resistivity of the NbN. Experimentally we identify the origins of different transition temperatures in a real HEB device, suggesting the importance of the intrinsic resistive transition of the superconducting bridge in the modeling.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN (up) 1051-8223 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Serial 980  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Skalare, A.; McGrath, William R.; Echternach, P. M.; Leduc, H. G.; Siddiqi, I.; Verevkin, A.; Prober, D. E. doi  openurl
  Title Aluminum hot-electron bolometer mixers at submillimeter wavelengths Type Journal Article
  Year 2001 Publication IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 641-644  
  Keywords Al HEB mixer, contacts, interface, in situ, in-situ, Aluminium HEB mixer  
  Abstract Diffusion-cooled aluminum hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers are of interest for low-noise high resolution THz-frequency spectroscopy within astrophysics. Al HEB mixers offer operation with an order of magnitude less local oscillator power, higher intermediate frequency bandwidth and potentially lower noise than competing devices made from other materials. We report on mixer experiments at 618 GHz with devices fabricated from films with sheet resistances in the range from about 55 Ω down to about 9 Ω per square. Intermediate frequency bandwidths of up to 3 GHz were measured (1 μm long device), with absorbed local oscillator power levels of 0.5 to 6 nW and mixer conversion up to -21.5 dB. High input coupling efficiency implies that the electrons in the device are able to thermalize before escaping from the device. It was found that the long coherence length complicates mixer operations due to the proximity of the contact pads. Also, saturation at the IF frequency may be a concern for this type of device, and warrants further studies.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN (up) 1051-8223 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number ref919426b Serial 1061  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Hajenius, M.; Yang, Z. Q.; Gao, J. R.; Baselmans, J. J. A.; Klapwijk, T. M.; Voronov, B.; Gol'tsman, G. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Optimized sensitivity of NbN hot electron bolometer mixers by annealing Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Abbreviated Journal IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond.  
  Volume 17 Issue 2 Pages 399-402  
  Keywords NbN HEB mixers  
  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.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN (up) 1051-8223 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Serial 1426  
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Shurakov, A.; Tong, C.-Y. E.; Blundell, R.; Kaurova, N.; Voronov, B.; Gol'tsman, G. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Microwave stabilization of a HEB mixer in a pulse-tube cryocooler Type Journal Article
  Year 2013 Publication IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Abbreviated Journal IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond.  
  Volume 23 Issue 3 Pages 1501504-1501504  
  Keywords NbN HEB mixers  
  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.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN (up) 1051-8223 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Serial 1372  
Permanent link to this record
Select All    Deselect All
 |   | 
Details
   print

Save Citations:
Export Records: