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Author Pütz, P.; Honingh, C. E.; Jacobs, K.; Justen, M.; Schultz, M.; Stutzki, J.
Title Terahertz hot electron bolometer waveguide mixers for GREAT Type Journal Article
Year 2012 Publication Astron. Astrophys. Abbreviated Journal A&A
Volume 542 Issue Pages L2
Keywords HEB mixer, applications
Abstract Context. Supplementing the publications based on the first-light observations with the German REceiver for Astronomy at Terahertz frequencies (GREAT) on SOFIA, we present background information on the underlying heterodyne detector technology. This Letter complements the GREAT instrument Letter and focuses on the mixers itself.

Aims. We describe the superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) detectors that are used as frequency mixers in the L1 (1400 GHz), L2 (1900 GHz), and M (2500 GHz) channels of GREAT. Measured performance of the detectors is presented and background information on their operation in GREAT is given.

Methods. Our mixer units are waveguide-based and couple to free-space radiation via a feedhorn antenna. The HEB mixers are designed, fabricated, characterized, and flight-qualified in-house. We are able to use the full intermediate frequency bandwidth of the mixers using silicon-germanium multi-octave cryogenic low-noise amplifiers with very low input return loss.

Results. Superconducting HEB mixers have proven to be practical and sensitive detectors for high-resolution THz frequency spectroscopy on SOFIA. We show that our niobium-titanium-nitride (NbTiN) material HEBs on silicon nitride (SiN) membrane substrates have an intermediate frequency (IF) noise roll-off frequency above 2.8 GHz, which does not limit the current receiver IF bandwidth. Our mixer technology development efforts culminate in the first successful operation of a waveguide-based HEB mixer at 2.5 THz and deployment for radioastronomy. A significant contribution to the success of GREAT is made by technological development, thorough characterization and performance optimization of the mixer and its IF interface for receiver operation on SOFIA. In particular, the development of an optimized mixer IF interface contributes to the low passband ripple and excellent stability, which GREAT demonstrated during its initial successful astronomical observation runs.
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Call Number Serial 907
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Author Cherednichenko, Sergey; Drakinskiy, Vladimir; Berg, Therese; Khosropanah, Pourya; Kollberg, Erik
Title Hot-electron bolometer terahertz mixers for the Herschel Space Observatory Type Journal Article
Year 2008 Publication Review of Scientific Instruments Abbreviated Journal Rev. Sci. Instrum.
Volume 79 Issue Pages 034501
Keywords HEB mixer, HEB detector, HEB direct detector, applications
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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Call Number Serial 908
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Author Yagoubov, P.; Kroug, M.; Merkel, H.; Kollberg, E.; Gol'tsman, G.; Svechnikov, S.; Gershenzon, E.
Title Noise temperature and local oscillator power requirement of NbN phonon-cooled hot electron bolometric mixers at terahertz frequencies Type Journal Article
Year 1998 Publication Appl. Phys. Lett. Abbreviated Journal Appl. Phys. Lett.
Volume 73 Issue 19 Pages 2814-2816
Keywords NbN HEB mixers, noise temperature, local oscillator power
Abstract In this letter, the noise performance of NbN-based phonon-cooled hot electron bolometric quasioptical mixers is investigated in the 0.55–1.1 THz frequency range. The best results of the double-sideband <cd><2018>DSB<cd><2019> noise temperature are: 500 K at 640 GHz, 600 K at 750 GHz, 850 K at 910 GHz, and 1250 K at 1.1 THz. The water vapor in the signal path causes significant contribution to the measured receiver noise temperature around 1.1 THz. The devices are made from 3-nm-thick NbN film on high-resistivity Si and integrated with a planar spiral antenna on the same substrate. The in-plane dimensions of the bolometer strip are typically 0.2Ï«2 um. The amount of local oscillator power absorbed in the bolometer is less than 100 nW.
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Call Number Serial 911
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Author Klapwijk, T. M.; Barends, R.; Gao, J. R.; Hajenius, M.; Baselmans, J. J. A.
Title Improved superconducting hot-electron bolometer devices for the THz range Type Conference Article
Year 2004 Publication Proc. SPIE Abbreviated Journal Proc. SPIE
Volume 5498 Issue Pages 129-139
Keywords HEB mixer distributed model, numerical model
Abstract Improved and reproducible heterodyne mixing (noise temperatures of 950 K at 2.5 THz) has been realized with NbN based hot-electron superconducting devices with low contact resistances. A distributed temperature numerical model of the NbN bridge, based on a local electron and a phonon temperature, has been used to understand the physical conditions during the mixing process. We find that the mixing is predominantly due to the exponential rise of the local resistivity as a function of electron temperature.
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Notes Invited talk, Recommended by Klapwijk Approved no
Call Number Serial 912
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Author Phillips, T. G.; Jefferts, K. B.
Title A low temperature bolometer heterodyne receiver for Millimeter wave astronomy Type Journal Article
Year 1973 Publication Rev. Sci. Instrum. Abbreviated Journal Rev. Sci. Instrum.
Volume 44 Issue 8 Pages 1009-1014
Keywords InSb HEB mixer
Abstract Liquid helium cooled InSb hot electronbolometers are used in a balanced mixer configuration as detectors for an imagelessmicrowave receiver. The system is designed for mounting at the prime focus of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) 11 m antenna at Kitt Peak, Arizona, and is suitable for the study of rotational line spectra of interstellar gas molecules. Currently the operating frequency is in the 90–140 GHz band where the double sideband system noise temperature is 250 K.
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Notes Recommended by Klapwijk Approved no
Call Number Serial 927
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Author Miao, W.; Zhang, W.; Zhong, J. Q.; Shi, S. C.; Delorme, Y.; Lefevre, R.; Feret, A; Vacelet, T
Title Non-uniform absorption of terahertz radiation on superconducting hot electron bolometer microbridges Type Journal Article
Year 2014 Publication Appl. Phys. Lett. Abbreviated Journal <ef><bf><bc>Appl. Phys. Lett.
Volume 104 Issue Pages 052605(1-4)
Keywords NbN HEB mixers, local oscillator power, RF nonuniform absorption
Abstract We interpret the experimental observation of a frequency-dependence of superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers by taking into account the non-uniform absorption of the terahertz radiation on the superconducting HEB microbridge. The radiation absorption is assumed to be proportional to the local surface resistance of the HEB microbridge, which is computed using the Mattis-Bardeen theory. With this assumption the dc and mixing characteristics of a superconducting niobium-nitride (NbN) HEB device have been modeled at frequencies below and above the equilibrium gap frequency of the NbN film.
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 935
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Author Kawamura, J.; Blundell, R.; Tong, C.-Y. E.; Golts'man, G.; Gershenzon, E.; Voronov B.
Title Superconductive NbN hot-electron bolometric mixer performance at 250 GHz Type Conference Article
Year 1996 Publication Proc. 7th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. Abbreviated Journal Proc. 7th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol.
Volume Issue Pages 331-336
Keywords NbN HEB mixers
Abstract Thin film NbN (<40 A) strips are used as waveguide mixer elements. The electron cooling mechanism for the geometry is the electron-phonon interaction. We report a receiver noise temperature of 750 K at 244 GHz, with / IF = 1.5 GHz, Af= 500 MHz, and Tphysical = 4 K. The instantaneous bandwidth for this mixer is 1.6 GHz. The local oscillator (LO) power is 0.5 1.tW with 3 dB-uncertainty. The mixer is linear to 1 dB up to an input power level 6 dB below the LO power. We report the first detection of a molecular line emission using this class of mixer, and that the receiver noise temperature determined from Y-factor measurements reflects the true heterodyne sensitivity.
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 945
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Author Trifonov, A.; Tong, C.-Y. E.; Blundell, R.; Ryabchun, S.; Gol'tsman, G.
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%.
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ISSN 1051-8223 ISBN Medium
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1355
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Author Lobanov, Y.; Shcherbatenko, M.; Finkel, M.; Maslennikov, S.; Semenov, A.; Voronov, B. M.; Rodin, A. V.; Klapwijk, T. M.; Gol'tsman, G. N.
Title NbN hot-electron-bolometer mixer for operation in the near-IR frequency range Type Journal Article
Year 2015 Publication IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Abbreviated Journal IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond.
Volume 25 Issue 3 Pages 2300704 (1 to 4)
Keywords HEB mixer, IR, optical antenna
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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Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 952
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Author Maslennikov, S.
Title RF heating efficiency of the terahertz superconducting hot-electron bolometer Type Journal Article
Year 2014 Publication arXiv Abbreviated Journal arXiv
Volume 1404.5276 Issue Pages 1-4
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
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
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Call Number RPLAB @ atomics90 @ Serial 954
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