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| Author |
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. |
| Volume |
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Issue |
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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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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. |
| 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. |
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1051-8223 |
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1372 |
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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. |
| Title |
Terahertz heterodyne array based on NbN HEB mixers |
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Abstract |
| Year |
2008 |
Publication |
Proc. 19th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
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43 |
| Keywords |
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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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. |
| Title |
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 |
| Year |
2008 |
Publication |
Proc. SPIE |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. SPIE |
| Volume |
6840 |
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Pages |
684007 (1 to 8) |
| Keywords |
NbN HEB mixers, noise temperature, LO power |
| Abstract |
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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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. |
| Title |
Properties of terahertz superconducting hot electron bolometer mixers |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2008 |
Publication |
Int. J. Terahertz Sci. Technol. |
Abbreviated Journal |
Int. J. Terahertz Sci. Technol. |
| Volume |
1 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
37-41 |
| Keywords |
NbN HEB mixers, noise temperature |
| Abstract |
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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1417 |
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Cherednichenko, S.; Drakinskiy, V.; Baubert, J.; Lecomte, B.; Dauplay, F.; Krieg, J.-M.; Delorme, Y.; Feret, A.; Hübers, H.-W.; Semenov, A. D.; Gol’tsman, G. N. |
| Title |
2.5 THz multipixel heterodyne receiver based on NbN HEB mixers |
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Abstract |
| Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Proc. 18th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. 18th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
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Pages |
112 |
| Keywords |
NbN HEB mixers |
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A 16 pixel heterodyne receiver for 2.5 THz has 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. Spherical mirrors (one per pixel) and backshort distance from the antenna have been used to design the output mixer beam profile. The camera design allows all 16 pixel IF readout in parallel. Measurements of the mixers sensitivity and the input RF band are presented, and compared against calculations. |
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1419 |
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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. |
| Title |
Development of HEB mixers for GREAT and for security screening |
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Abstract |
| Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Proc. 18th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. 18th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
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184 |
| Keywords |
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, Sergey; Tong, Cheuk-yu Edward; Blundell, Raymond; Kimberk, Robert; Gol’tsman, Gregory |
| Title |
Stabilisation of a terahertz hot-electron bolometer mixer with microwave feedback control |
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Conference Article |
| Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Proc. 18th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. 18th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. |
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193-198 |
| Keywords |
waveguide NbN HEB mixers, Allan variance, stability |
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We report on implementation of microwave feedback control loop to stabilise the performance of an HEB mixer receiver. It is shown that the receiver sensitivity increases by a factor of 4 over a 16-minute scan, and the corresponding Allan time increases up to 10 seconds, as opposed to an open loop value of 1 second. Our experiments also demonstrate that the receiver sensitivity is limited by the intermediate frequency chain. |
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1421 |
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Ryabchun, S.; Tong, C.-Y. E.; Blundell, R.; Kimberk, R.; Gol'tsman, G. |
| Title |
Study of the effect of microwave radiation on the operation of HEB mixers in the terahertz frequency range |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2007 |
Publication |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
Abbreviated Journal |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
| Volume |
17 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
391-394 |
| Keywords |
NbN HEB mixers |
| Abstract |
We have investigated the effect of injecting microwave radiation, with a frequency much lower than that corresponding to the energy gap of the superconductor, on the performance of the hot-electron bolometer mixer incorporated into a THz heterodyne receiver. More specifically, we show that exposing the mixer to microwave radiation does not cause a significant rise of the receiver noise temperature and fall of the mixer conversion gain so long as the microwave power is a small fraction of local oscillator power. The injection of a small, but controlled amount of microwave power therefore enables active compensation of local oscillator power and coupling fluctuations which can significantly degrade the gain stability of hot electron bolometer mixer receivers. |
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1051-8223 |
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1427 |
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Jiang, L.; Antipov, S. V.; Voronov, B. M.; Gol'tsman, G. N.; Zhang, W.; Li, N.; Lin, Z. H.; Yao, Q. J.; Miao, W.; Shi, S. C.; Svechnikov, S. I.; Vakhtomin, Y. B. |
| Title |
Characterization of the performance of a quasi-optical NbN superconducting HEB mixer |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2007 |
Publication |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
Abbreviated Journal |
IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. |
| Volume |
17 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
395-398 |
| Keywords |
NbN HEB mixers, noise temperature |
| Abstract |
In this paper we focus mainly on the investigation of the performance of a quasi-optical (planar log-spiral antenna) phonon-cooled NbN superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer, which is cryogenically cooled by a close-cycled 4-K cryocooler, at 500 and 850 GHz frequency bands. The mixer's noise performance, stability of IF output power, and local oscillator (LO) power requirement are characterized for three NbN superconducting HEB devices of different sizes. The transmission characteristics of Mylar and Zitex films with incidence waves of an elliptical polarization are also examined by measuring the mixer's noise temperature. The lowest receiver noise temperatures (with no corrections) of 750 and 1100 K are measured at 500 and 850 GHz, respectively. Experimental results also demonstrate that the bigger the HEB device is, the higher the stability of IF output power becomes. |
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1051-8223 |
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1429 |
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