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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Lobanov, Y., Tong, C., Blundell, R., & Gol'tsman, G. (2009). A study of direct detection effect on the linearity of hot electron bolometer mixers. In Proc. 20th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (pp. 282–287).
Abstract: We have performed a study of how direct detection affects the linearity and hence the calibration of an HEB mixer. Two types of waveguide HEB devices have been used: a 0.8 THz HEB mixer and a 1.0 THz HEB mixer which is ~5 times smaller than the former. Two independent experimental approaches were used. In the ΔG/G method, the conversion gain of the HEB mixer is first measured as a function of the bias current for a number of bias voltages. At each bias setting, we carefully measure the change in the operating current when the input loads are switched. From the measured data, we can derive the expected difference in gain between the hot and cold loads. In the second method (injection method [1]), the linearity of the HEB mixer is independently measured by injecting a modulated signal for different input load temperatures. The results of both approaches confirm that there is gain compression in the operation of HEB mixers. Based on the results of our measurements, we discuss the impact of direct detection effects on the operation of HEB mixers.
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Cherednichenko, S., Yagoubov, P., Il'in, K., Gol'tsman, G., & Gershenzon, E. (1997). Large bandwidth of NbN phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometer mixers. In Proc. 27th Eur. Microwave Conf. (Vol. 2, pp. 972–977). IEEE.
Abstract: The bandwidth of NbN phonon-cooled hot electron bolometer mixers has been systematically investigated with respect to the film thickness and film quality variation. The films, 2.5 to 10 nm thick, were fabricated on sapphire substrates using DC reactive magnetron sputtering. All devices consisted of several parallel strips, each 1 um wide and 2 um long, placed between Ti-Au contact pads. To measure the gain bandwidth we used two identical BWOs operating in the 120-140 GHz frequency range, one functioning as a local oscillator and the other as a signal source. The majority of the measurements were made at an ambient temperature of 4.2 K with optimal LO and DC bias. The maximum 3 dB bandwidth (about 4 GHz) was achieved for the devices made of films which were 2.5-3.5 nm thick, had a high critical temperature, and high critical current density. A theoretical analysis of bandwidth for these mixers based on the two-temperature model gives a good description of the experimental results if one assumes that the electron temperature is equal to the critical temperature.
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Ryabchun, S. A., Tretyakov, I. V., Pentin, I. V., Kaurova, N. S., Seleznev, V. A., Voronov, B. M., et al. (2009). Low-noise wide-band hot-electron bolometer mixer based on an NbN film. Radiophys. Quant. Electron., 52(8), 576–582.
Abstract: We develop and study a hot-electron bolometer mixer made of a two-layer NbN–Au film in situ deposited on a silicon substrate. The double-sideband noise temperature of the mixer is 750 K at a frequency of 2.5 THz. The conversion efficiency measurements show that at the superconducting transition temperature, the intermediate-frequency bandwidth amounts to about 6.5 GHz for a mixer 0.112 μm long. These record-breaking characteristics are attributed to the improved contacts between a sensitive element and a helical antenna and are reached due to using the in situ deposition of NbN and Au layers at certain stages of the process.
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Lobanov, Y., Shcherbatenko, M., Finkel, M., Maslennikov, S., Semenov, A., Voronov, B. M., et al. (2015). NbN hot-electron-bolometer mixer for operation in the near-IR frequency range. IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond., 25(3), 2300704 (1 to 4).
Abstract: Traditionally, hot-electron-bolometer (HEB) mixers are employed for THz and “super-THz” heterodyne detection. To explore the near-IR spectral range, we propose a fiber-coupled NbN film based HEB mixer. To enhance the incident-light absorption, a quasi-antenna consisting of a set of parallel stripes of gold is used. To study the antenna effect on the mixer performance, we have experimentally studied a set of devices with different size of the Au stripe and spacing between the neighboring stripes. With use of the well-known isotherm technique we have estimated the absorption efficiency of the mixer, and the maximum efficiency has been observed for devices with the smallest pitch of the alternating NbN and NbN-Au stripes. Also, a proper alignment of the incident Eâƒ<2014>-field with respect to the stripes allows us to improve the coupling further. Studying IV-characteristics of the mixer under differently-aligned Eâƒ<2014>-field of the incident radiation, we have noticed a difference in their shape. This observation suggests that a difference exists in the way the two waves with orthogonal polarizations parallel and perpendicular Eâƒ<2014>-field to the stripes heat the electrons in the HEB mixer. The latter results in a variation in the electron temperature distribution over the HEB device irradiated by the two waves.
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