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| Author |
Shurakov, Alexander; Tong, Cheuk-yu E.; Blundell, Raymond; Gol’tsman, Gregory |
| Title |
A microwave pumped HEB direct detector using a homodyne readout scheme |
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Abstract |
| Year |
2014 |
Publication |
Proc. 25th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. 25th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
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129 |
| Keywords |
waveguide NbN HEB detector, NEP |
| Abstract |
We report the results of our study on the noise performance of a fast THz detector based on the repurpose of hot electron bolometer mixer (HEB). Instead of operating with an elevated bath temperature, microwave power is injected into the HEB device, which enhances the sensitivity of the detector and at the same time provide a mechanism for reading out impedance changes of the device induced by the modulated incident THz radiation [1]. We have demonstrated an improvement of the detector’s optical noise equivalent power (NEP). Furthermore, by introducing a homodyne readout scheme based on a room temperature microwave mixer, the dynamic range of the detector is increased. The HEB devices used in this work were made of 4 nm thick NbN film. The detector chips were installed into a waveguide mixer block fitted with a corrugated horn, mounted on the cold plate of a liquid helium cryostat. The HEBs were operated at a bath temperature of 4.2 K. The signal beam was terminated on black bodies at ambient and liquid nitrogen temperatures. A chopper wheel placed in front of the cryostat window operating at a frequency of 1.48 kHz modulated the input load temperature of the detector. A cold mesh filter, centered at 830 GHz, was used to define the input signal power bandwidth. Microwave was injected through a broadband directional coupler inside the cryostat. Our experiments were mostly conducted at a pump frequency of 1.5 GHz. The reflected microwave power from the HEB device was fed into a cryogenic low noise amplifier (LNA). The output of the LNA was connected to the RF input port of a room temperature microwave mixer, which beat the reflected signal from the HEB using a copy of the original 1.5 GHz injection signal in a homodyne demodulation scheme. The amplitude of the detected power was measured by a lock-in amplifier, which was synchronized to the chopper frequency. Preliminary results yield an optical NEP of ~1 pW/ Hz 1/2 which corresponds to an improvement of a factor of 3 compared to [1], driven mainly by a lowering of the system noise floor. The dynamic range was also increased by similar amount. References 1. A. Shurakov et al. “A Microwave Pumped Hot Electron Bolometric Direct Detector,” submitted on Oct 18, 2013 to Appl. Phys. Let. |
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1365 |
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Tong, C. Edward; Trifonov, Andrey; Blundell, Raymond; Shurakov, Alexander; Gol’tsman, Gregory |
| Title |
A digital terahertz power meter based on an NbN thin film |
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Abstract |
| Year |
2014 |
Publication |
Proc. 25th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. 25th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
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Pages |
170 |
| Keywords |
waveguide NbN HEB mixers |
| Abstract |
We have further studied the effect of subjecting a superconducting Hot Electron Bolometer (HEB) element made from an NbN thin film to microwave radiation. Since the photon energy is weak, the microwave radiation does not simply heat the film, but generates a bi-static state, switching between the superconducting and normal states, upon the application of a small voltage bias. Indeed, a relaxation oscillation of a few MHz has previously been reported in this regime [1]. Switching between the superconducting and normal states modulates the reflected microwave pump power from the device. A simple homodyne setup readily recovers the spontaneous switching waveform in the time domain. The switching frequency is a function of both the bias voltage (DC heating) and the applied microwave power. In this work, we use a 0.8 THz HEB waveguide mixer for the purpose of demonstration. The applied microwave pump, coupled through a directional coupler, is at 1 GHz. Since the pump power is of the order of a few μW, a room temperature amplifier is sufficient to amplify the reflected pump power from the HEB mixer, which beats with the microwave source in a homodyne set-up. After further amplification, the switching waveform is passed onto a frequency counter. The typical frequency of the switching pulses is 3-5 MHz. It is found that the digital frequency count increases with higher microwave pump power. When the HEB mixer is subjected to additional optical power at 0.8 THz, the frequency count also increases. When we vary the incident optical power by using a wire grid attenuator, a linear relationship is observed between the frequency count and the applied optical power, over at least an order of magnitude of power. This phenomenon can be exploited to develop a digital power meter, using a very simple electronics setup. Further experiments are under way to determine the range of linearity and the accuracy of calibration transfer from the microwave to the THz regime. References 1. Y. Zhuang, and S. Yngvesson, “Detection and interpretation of bistatic effects in NbN HEB devices,” Proc. 13 th Int. Symp. Space THz Tech., 2002, pp. 463–472. |
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1366 |
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Zhang, W.; Miao, W.; Li, S. L.; Zhou, K. M.; Shi, S. C.; Gao, J. R.; Goltsman, G. N. |
| Title |
Measurement of the spectral response of spiral-antenna coupled superconducting hot electron bolometers |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2013 |
Publication |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
Abbreviated Journal |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
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23 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
2300804-2300804 |
| Keywords |
NbN HEB detector |
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Measured spectral response of spiral-antenna coupled superconducting hot electron bolometers (HEBs) often drops dramatically at frequencies that are still within the frequency range of interest (e.g., ~ 5 THz). This is inconsistent with the implied low receiver noise temperatures from the same measurements. To understand this discrepancy, we exhaustively test and calibrate the thermal sources used in Fourier transform spectrometer measurements. We first investigate the absolute emission spectrum of high-pressure Hg arc lamp, then measure the spectral response of two spiral-antenna coupled NbN HEBs with a Martin-Puplett interferometer as spectrometer and 77 K blackbody as broadband signal source. The measured absolute emission spectrum of Hg arc lamp is proportional to frequency, corresponding to an equivalent blackbody temperature of 4000 K at 1 THz, 1500 K at 3 THz, and 800 K at 5 THz, respectively. Measured spectral response of spiral-antenna coupled NbN HEBs, corrected for air absorption, is nearly flat in the frequency range of 0.5-4 THz, consistent with simulated coupling efficiency between HEB and spiral-antenna. These results explain the discrepancy, and prove that spiral-antenna coupled superconducting NbN HEBs work well in a wide frequency range. In addition, this calibration method and these results are broadly applicable to other quasi-optical THz receivers. |
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1051-8223 |
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1371 |
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Shurakov, A.; Tong, C.-Y. E.; Blundell, R.; Kaurova, N.; Voronov, B.; Gol'tsman, G. |
| Title |
Microwave stabilization of a HEB mixer in a pulse-tube cryocooler |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2013 |
Publication |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
Abbreviated Journal |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
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23 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
1501504-1501504 |
| Keywords |
NbN HEB mixers |
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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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1051-8223 |
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1372 |
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Pentin, I. V.; Smirnov, A. V.; Ryabchun, S. A.; Gol’tsman, G. N.; Vaks, V. L.; Pripolzin, S. I.; Paveliev, D. G. |
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Heterodyne source of THz range based on semiconductor superlattice multiplier |
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Conference Article |
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2011 |
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IRMMW-THz |
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IRMMW-THz |
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1-2 |
| Keywords |
NbN HEB mixer, superlattice |
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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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6105209 |
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1384 |
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Maslennikova, A.; Larionov, P.; Ryabchun, S.; Smirnov, A.; Pentin, I.; Vakhtomin, Yu.; Smirnov, K.; Kaurova, N.; Voronov, B.; Goltsman, G. |
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Noise equivalent power and dynamic range of NBN hot-electron bolometers |
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2011 |
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Proc. MLPLIT |
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Proc. MLPLIT |
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146-148 |
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NbN HEB |
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Suzdal / Vladimir (Russia) |
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Modern laser physics and laser-information technologies for science and manufacture |
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1st international russian-chinese conference / youthschool-workshop |
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September 23-28, 2011 |
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1386 |
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Goltsman, G. |
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Superconducting NbN hot-electron bolometer mixer, direct detector and single-photon counter: from devices to systems |
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Report |
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2009 |
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2-nd Int. Conf. EUROFLUX |
Abbreviated Journal |
2-nd Int. Conf. EUROFLUX |
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HEB, SSPD, SNSPD |
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Avignon, France |
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Provided by the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System |
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1398 |
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Cherednichenko, S.; Drakinskiy, V.; Lecomte, B.; Dauplay, F.; Krieg, J.-M.; Delorme, Y.; Feret, A.; Hübers, H.-W.; Semenov, A.D.; Gol’tsman, G.N. |
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Terahertz heterodyne array based on NbN HEB mixers |
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2008 |
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Proc. 19th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
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43 |
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NbN HEB mixers array |
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A 16 pixel heterodyne receiver for 2.5 THz is been developed based on NbN superconducting hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers. The receiver uses a quasioptical RF coupling approach where HEB mixers are integrated into double dipole antennas on 1.5μm thick Si3N4 / SiO2 membranes. Miniature mirrors (one per pixel) and back short for the antenna were used to design the output mixer beam profile. The camera design allows all 16 pixel IF readout in parallel. The gain bandwidth of the HEB mixers on Si3N4 / SiO 2 membranes was found to be about 3 GHz, when an MgO buffer layers is applied on the membrane. We will also present the progress in the camera heterodyne tests. |
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no |
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1411 |
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Zhang, W.; Li, N.; Jiang, L.; Ren, Y.; Yao, Q.-J.; Lin, Z.-H.; Shi, S.-C.; Voronov, B. M.; Gol’tsman, G. N. |
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Dependence of noise temperature of quasi-optical superconducting hot-electron bolometer mixers on bath temperature and optical-axis displacement |
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Conference Article |
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2008 |
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Proc. SPIE |
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Proc. SPIE |
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6840 |
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684007 (1 to 8) |
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NbN HEB mixers, noise temperature, LO power |
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It is known that the increase of bath temperature results in the decrease of critical current of superconducting hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers owing to the depression of superconductivity, thus leading to the degradation of the mixer’s sensitivity. Here we report our study on the effect of bath temperature on the heterodyne mixing performance of quasi-optical superconducting NbN HEB mixers incorporated with a two-arm log-spiral antenna. The correlation between the bath temperature, critical current, LO power requirement and noise temperature is investigated at 0.5 THz. Furthermore, the heterodyne mixing performance of quasi-optical superconducting NbN HEB mixers is examined while there is an optical-axis displacement between the center of the extended hemispherical silicon lens and the superconducting NbN HEB device, which is placed on the back of the lens. Detailed experimental results and analysis are presented. |
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Spie |
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Zhang, C.; Zhang, X.-C. |
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Terahertz Photonics |
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no |
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1415 |
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Chen, J.; Kang, L.; Jin, B. B.; Xu, W. W.; Wu, P. H.; Zhang, W.; Jiang, L.; Li, N.; Shi, S. C.; Gol'tsman, G. N. |
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Properties of terahertz superconducting hot electron bolometer mixers |
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Journal Article |
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2008 |
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Int. J. Terahertz Sci. Technol. |
Abbreviated Journal |
Int. J. Terahertz Sci. Technol. |
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1 |
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1 |
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37-41 |
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NbN HEB mixers, noise temperature |
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A quasi-optical superconducting niobium nitride (NbN) hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer has been fabricated and measured in the terahertz (THz) frequency range of 0.5~2.52 THz. A receiver noise temperature of 2000 K at 2.52 THz has been obtained for the mixer without corrections. Also, the effect of a Parylene C anti-reflection (AR) coating on the silicon (Si) lens has been studied. |
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