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Baryshev, A.; Baselmans, J. J. A.; Reker, S. F.; Hajenius, M.; Gao, J. R.; Klapwijk, T. M.; Vachtomin, Yu.; Maslennikov, S.; Antipov, S.; Voronov, B.; Gol'tsman, G. |
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Title |
Direct detection effect in hot electron bolometer mixers |
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2005 |
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Proc. 16th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
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Proc. 16th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
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463-464 |
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NbN HEB mixers, effect of direct detection, direct detection effect |
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NbN phonon cooled hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers are currently the most sensitive heterodyne detectors at frequencies above 1.2 THz. They combine a good sensitivity (8-15 times the quantum limit), an IF bandwidth of the order of 4-6 GHz and a wide RF bandwidth from 0.7-5.2 THz. However, for use in a space based observatory, such as Herschel, it is of vital importance that the Local Oscillator (LO) power requirement of the mixer is compatible with the low output power of present day THz LO sources. This can be achieved by reducing the mixer volume and critical current. However, the large RF bandwidth and low LO power requirement of such a mixer result in a direct detection effect, characterized by a change in the bias current of the HEB when changing the RF signal from a black body load at 300 K to one at 77 K. As a result the measured sensitivity using a 300 K and 77 K calibration load differs significantly from the small signal sensitivity relevant for astronomical observations. In this article we describe a set of dedicated experiments to characterize the direct detection effect for a small volume quasi-optical NbN phonon cooled HEB mixer. We measure the direct detection effect in a small volume (0.15 μm · 1 μm · 3.5 nm) quasi- optical NbN phonon cooled HEB mixer at 1.6 THz. We found that the small signal sensitivity of the receiver is underestimated by approximately 35% due to the direct detection effect and that the optimal operating point is shifted to higher bias voltages when using calibration loads of 300 K and 77 K. Using a 200 GHz wide band-pass filter at the 4.2 K the direct detection effect virtually disappears. Heterodyne response measurements using water vapor absorption line in a gas cell confirms the existence and a magnitude of a direct detection effect. We also propose a theoretical explanation using uniform electron heating model. This direct detection effect has important implications for the calibration procedure of these receivers in real telescope systems. We are developing Nb HEBs for a large-format, diffusion-cooled hot electron bolometer (HEB) array submillimeter camera. The goal is to produce a 64 pixel array together with the University of Arizona to be used on the HHT on Mt Graham. It is designed to detect in the 850 GHz atmospheric window. We have fabricated Nb HEBs using a new angle- deposition process, which had previously produced high quality Nb-Au bilayer HEB devices at Yale. [1] We have characterized these devices using heterodyne mixing at ~30 GHz to compare to 345 GHz tests at the University of Arizona. We can also directly compare our Nb HEB mixers to SIS mixers in this same 345 GHz system. This allows us to rigorously calibrate the system’s losses and extract the mixer noise temperature in a well characterized mixer block, before undertaking the 850 GHz system. Here we give a report on the initial devices we have fabricated and characterized. * Department of Applied Physics, Yale University ** Department of Astronomy, University of Arizona [1] Applied Physics Letters 84, Number 8; p.1404-7, Feb 23 (2004) |
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1475 |
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Antipov, S.; Trifonov, A.; Krause, S.; Meledin, D.; Desmaris, V.; Belitsky, V.; Gol’tsman, G. |
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Gain bandwidth of NbN HEB mixers on GaN buffer layer operating at 2 THz local oscillator frequency |
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2017 |
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Proc. 28th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
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Proc. 28th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
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147-148 |
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NbN HEB mixers, GaN buffer-layer, IF bandwidth |
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In this paper, we present IF bandwidth measurement results of NbN HEB mixers, which are employing NbN thin films grown on a GaN buffer-layer. The HEB mixers were operated in the heterodyne regime at a bath temperature of approximately 4.5 K and with a local oscillator operating at a frequency of 2 THz. A quantum cascade laser served as the local oscillator and a reference synthesizer based on a BWO generator (130-160 GHz) and a semiconductor superlattice (SSL) frequency multiplier was used as a signal source. By changing the LO frequency it was possible to record the IF response or gain bandwidth of the HEB with a spectrum analyzer at the operation point, which yielded lowest noise temperature. The gain bandwidth that was recorded in the heterodyne regime at 2 THz amounts to approximately 5 GHz and coincides well with a measurement that has been performed at elevated bath temperatures and lower LO frequency of 140 GHz. These findings strongly support that by using a GaN buffer-layer the phonon escape time of NbN HEBs can be significantly lower as compared to e.g. Si substrate, thus, providing higher gain bandwidth. |
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1175 |
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Semenov, A.; Richter, H.; Smirnov, A.; Günther, B.; Hübers, H.-W.; Il’in, K.; Siegel, M.; Gol’tsman, G.; Drakinskiy, V.; Merkel, H.; Karamarkovic, J. |
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Development of HEB mixers for GREAT and for security screening |
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2007 |
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Proc. 18th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
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Proc. 18th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
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184 |
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NbN HEB mixers, GREAT |
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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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1420 |
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Ryabchun, S.; Tong, C.-yu E.; Blundell, R.; Kimberk, R.; Gol’tsman, G. |
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Effect of microwave radiation on the stability of terahertz hot-electron bolometer mixers |
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2006 |
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Proc. SPIE |
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Proc. SPIE |
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6373 |
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63730J (1 to 5) |
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NbN HEB mixers, hot-electron bolometer mixers, stability, Allan variance, LO power fluctuations |
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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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SPIE |
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Anwar, M.; DeMaria, A.J.; Shur, M.S. |
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Terahertz Physics, Devices, and Systems |
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1441 |
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Hajenius, M.; Baselmans, J. J. A.; Gao, J. R.; Klapwijk, T. M.; de Korte 2, P. A. J.; Voronov, B.; Gol’tsman, G. |
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Increased bandwidth of NbN phonon cooled hot electron bolometer mixers |
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2004 |
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Proc. 15th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
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Proc. 15th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
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381-386 |
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NbN HEB mixers, IF bandwidth |
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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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1494 |
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