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Author Ryabchun, S.; Tong, C.-yu E.; Blundell, R.; Kimberk, R.; Gol’tsman, G.
Title Effect of microwave radiation on the stability of terahertz hot-electron bolometer mixers Type Conference Article
Year 2006 Publication Proc. SPIE Abbreviated Journal Proc. SPIE
Volume (down) 6373 Issue Pages 63730J (1 to 5)
Keywords NbN HEB mixers, hot-electron bolometer mixers, stability, Allan variance, LO power fluctuations
Abstract 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.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher SPIE Place of Publication Editor Anwar, M.; DeMaria, A.J.; Shur, M.S.
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference Terahertz Physics, Devices, and Systems
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1441
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Author Kawamura, J.; Hunter, T. R.; Tong, C. Y. E.; Blundell, R.; Papa, D. C.; Patt, F.; Peters, W.; Wilson, T.; Henkel, C.; Goltsman, G.; Gershenzon, E.
Title Ground-based terahertz CO spectroscopy towards Orion Type Journal Article
Year 2002 Publication A&A Abbreviated Journal A&A
Volume (down) 394 Issue 1 Pages 271-274
Keywords HEB mixers, applications
Abstract Using a superconductive hot-electron bolometer heterodyne receiver on the 10-m Heinrich Hertz Telescope on Mount Graham, Arizona, we have obtained velocity-resolved 1.037 THz CO () spectra toward several positions along the Orion Molecular Cloud (OMC-1) ridge. We confirm the general results of prior observations of high-J CO lines that show that the high temperature, , high density molecular gas, , is quite extended, found along a ~ region centered on BN/KL. However, our observations have significantly improved angular resolution, and with a beam size of we are able to spatially and kinematically discriminate the emission originating in the extended quiescent ridge from the very strong and broadened emission originating in the compact molecular outflow. The ridge emission very close to the BN/KL region appears to originate from two distinct clouds along the line of sight with and ≈ . The former component dominates the emission to the south of BN/KL and the latter to the north, with a turnover point coincident with or near BN/KL. Our evidence precludes a simple rotation of the inner ridge and lends support to a model in which there are multiple molecular clouds along the line of sight towards the Orion ridge.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 322
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Author Kawamura, J.; Blundell, R.; Tong, C.‐yu E.; Gol’tsman, G.; Gershenzon, E.; Voronov, B.
Title Performance of NbN lattice‐cooled hot‐electron bolometric mixers Type Journal Article
Year 1996 Publication J. Appl. Phys. Abbreviated Journal J. Appl. Phys.
Volume (down) 80 Issue 7 Pages 4232-4234
Keywords NbN HEB mixers
Abstract The heterodyne performance of lattice‐cooled hot‐electron bolometric mixers is measured at 200 GHz. Superconducting thin‐film niobium nitride strips with ∼5 nm thickness are used as waveguide mixer elements. A double‐sideband receiver noise temperature of 750 K at 244 GHz is measured at an intermediate frequency centered at 1.5 GHz with 500 MHz bandwidth and with 4.2 K device temperature. The instantaneous bandwidth for this mixer is 1.6 GHz. The local oscillator power required by the mixer is about 0.5 μW. The mixer is linear to within 1 dB up to an input power level 6 dB below the local oscillator power. A receiver incorporating a hot‐electron bolometric mixer was used to detect molecular line emission in a laboratory gascell. This experiment unambiguously confirms that the receiver noise temperature determined from Y‐factor measurements reflects the true heterodyne sensitivity.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0021-8979 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1607
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Author Kawamura, J.; Blundell, R.; Tong, C.-yu E.; Gol’tsman, G.; Gershenzon, E.; Voronov, B.; Cherednichenko, S.
Title Low noise NbN lattice-cooled superconducting hot-electron bolometric mixers at submillimeter wavelengths Type Journal Article
Year 1997 Publication Appl. Phys. Lett. Abbreviated Journal Appl. Phys. Lett.
Volume (down) 70 Issue 12 Pages 1619-1621
Keywords NbN HEB mixers
Abstract Lattice-cooled superconducting hot-electron bolometric mixers are used in a submillimeter-wave waveguide heterodyne receiver. The mixer elements are niobium nitride film with 3.5 nm thickness and ∼10 μm2 area. The local oscillator power for optimal performance is estimated to be 0.5 μW, and the instantaneous bandwidth is 2.2 GHz. At an intermediate frequency centered at 1.4 GHz with 200 MHz bandwidth, the double sideband receiver noise temperature is 410 K at 430 GHz. The receiver has been used to detect molecular line emission in a laboratory gas cell.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0003-6951 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1599
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Author Meledin, D. V.; Marrone, D. P.; Tong, C.-Y. E.; Gibson, H.; Blundell, R.; Paine, S. N.; Papa, D.C.; Smith, M.; Hunter, T. R.; Battat, J.; Voronov, B.; Gol'tsman, G.
Title A 1-THz superconducting hot-electron-bolometer receiver for astronomical observations Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Techn. Abbreviated Journal IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Techn.
Volume (down) 52 Issue 10 Pages 2338-2343
Keywords NbN HEB mixer, applications
Abstract In this paper, we describe a superconducting hot-electron-bolometer mixer receiver developed to operate in atmospheric windows between 800-1300 GHz. The receiver uses a waveguide mixer element made of 3-4-nm-thick NbN film deposited over crystalline quartz. This mixer yields double-sideband receiver noise temperatures of 1000 K at around 1.0 THz, and 1600 K at 1.26 THz, at an IF of 3.0 GHz. The receiver was successfully tested in the laboratory using a gas cell as a spectral line test source. It is now in use on the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory terahertz test telescope in northern Chile.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0018-9480 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1484
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Author Kawamura, J.; Blundell, R.; Tong, C.-Y. E.; Papa, D. C.; Hunter, T. R.; Paine, S. N.; Patt, F.; Gol'tsman, G.; Cherednichenko, S.; Voronov, B.; Gershenzon, E.
Title Superconductive hot-electron-bolometer mixer receiver for 800-GHz operation Type Journal Article
Year 2000 Publication IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Techn. Abbreviated Journal IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Techn.
Volume (down) 48 Issue 4 Pages 683-689
Keywords NbN HEB mixers, LO power, local oscillator power, saturation, linearity, dynamic range
Abstract In this paper, we describe a superconductive hot-electron-bolometer mixer receiver designed to operate in the partially transmissive 350-μm atmospheric window. The receiver employs an NbN thin-film microbridge as the mixer element, in which the main cooling mechanism of the hot electrons is through electron-phonon interaction. At a local-oscillator frequency of 808 GHz, the measured double-sideband receiver noise temperature is TRX=970 K, across a 1-GHz intermediate-frequency bandwidth centered at 1.8 GHz. We have measured the linearity of the receiver and the amount of local-oscillator power incident on the mixer for optimal operation, which is PLO≈1 μW. This receiver was used in making observations as a facility instrument at the Heinrich Hertz Telescope, Mt. Graham, AZ, during the 1998-1999 winter observing season.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0018-9480 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number RPLAB @ lobanovyury @ Serial 573
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Author Tong, C. Y. E.; Chen, L.; Blundell, R.
Title Theory of distributed mixing and amplification in a superconductingquasi-particle nonlinear transmission line Type Journal Article
Year 1997 Publication IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Techn. Abbreviated Journal
Volume (down) 45 Issue 7 Pages 1086-1092
Keywords
Abstract
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 274
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Author Tong, C. Y. E.; Blundell, R.; Paine, S.; Papa, D. C.; Kawamura, J.; Stern, J.; LeDuc, H. G.
Title Design and characterization of a 250-350 GHz fixed-tuned superconductor-insulator-insulator receiver Type Journal Article
Year 1996 Publication IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Techn. Abbreviated Journal
Volume (down) 44 Issue 9 Pages 1548-1556
Keywords
Abstract
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 273
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Author Trifonov, A.; Tong, C.-Y. E.; Grimes, P.; Lobanov, Y.; Kaurova, N.; Blundell, R.; Goltsman, G.
Title Development of A Silicon Membrane-based Multi-pixel Hot Electron Bolometer Receiver Type Conference Article
Year 2017 Publication IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Abbreviated Journal IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond.
Volume (down) 27 Issue 4 Pages 6
Keywords Multi-pixel, HEB, silicon-on-insulator, horn array
Abstract We report on the development of a multi-pixel

Hot Electron Bolometer (HEB) receiver fabricated using

silicon membrane technology. The receiver comprises a

2 × 2 array of four HEB mixers, fabricated on a single

chip. The HEB mixer chip is based on a superconducting

NbN thin film deposited on top of the silicon-on-insulator

(SOI) substrate. The thicknesses of the device layer and

handling layer of the SOI substrate are 20 μm and 300 μm

respectively. The thickness of the device layer is chosen

such that it corresponds to a quarter-wave in silicon at

1.35 THz. The HEB mixer is integrated with a bow-tie

antenna structure, in turn designed for coupling to a

circular waveguide,
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number RPLAB @ kovalyuk @ Serial 1111
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Author Trifonov, A.; Tong, C.-Y. E.; Grimes, P.; Lobanov, Y.; Kaurova, N.; Blundell, R.; Goltsman, G.
Title Development of a silicon membrane-based multipixel hot electron bolometer receiver Type Journal Article
Year 2017 Publication IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Abbreviated Journal IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond.
Volume (down) 27 Issue 4 Pages 1-5
Keywords Multi-pixel, NbN HEB, silicon-on-insulator, horn array
Abstract We report on the development of a multipixel hot electron bolometer (HEB) receiver fabricated using silicon membrane technology. The receiver comprises a 2 × 2 array of four HEB mixers, fabricated on a single chip. The HEB mixer chip is based on a superconducting NbN thin-film deposited on top of the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. The thicknesses of the device layer and handling layer of the SOI substrate are 20 and 300 μm, respectively. The thickness of the device layer is chosen such that it corresponds to a quarter-wave in silicon at 1.35 THz. The HEB mixer is integrated with a bow-tie antenna structure, in turn designed for coupling to a circular waveguide, fed by a monolithic drilled smooth-walled horn array.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1051-8223 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1324
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Author Trifonov, A.; Tong, C.-Y. E.; Lobanov, Y.; Kaurova, N.; Blundell, R.; Goltsman, G.
Title Photon absorption near the gap frequency in a hot electron bolometer Type Journal Article
Year 2017 Publication IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Abbreviated Journal IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond.
Volume (down) 27 Issue 4 Pages 1-4
Keywords NBN HEB mixer
Abstract The superconducting energy gap is a fundamental characteristic of a superconducting film, which, together with the applied pump power and the biasing setup, defines the instantaneous resistive state of the Hot Electron Bolometer (HEB) mixer at any given bias point on the I-V curve. In this paper we report on a series of experiments, in which we subjected the HEB to radiation over a wide frequency range along with parallel microwave injection. We have observed three distinct regimes of operation of the HEB, depending on whether the radiation is above the gap frequency, far below it or close to it. These regimes are driven by the different patterns of photon absorption. The experiments have allowed us to derive the approximate gap frequency of the device under test as about 585 GHz. Microwave injection was used to probe the HEB impedance. Spontaneous switching between the superconducting (low resistive) state and a quasi-normal (high resistive) state was observed. The switching pattern depends on the particular regime of HEB operation and can assume a random pattern at pump frequencies below the gap to a regular relaxation oscillation running at a few MHz when pumped above the gap.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1558-2515 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1331
Permanent link to this record
 

 
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 (down) 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%.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1051-8223 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1355
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author Tong, C.-Y. E.; Trifonov, A.; Shurakov, A.; Blundell, R.; Gol’tsman, G.
Title A microwave-operated hot-electron-bolometric power detector for terahertz radiation Type Journal Article
Year 2015 Publication IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Abbreviated Journal IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond.
Volume (down) 25 Issue 3 Pages 2300604 (1 to 4)
Keywords NbN HEB mixer
Abstract A new class of microwave-operated THz power detectors based on the NbN hot-electron-bolometer (HEB) mixer is proposed. The injected microwave signal ( 1 GHz) serves the dual purpose of pumping the HEB element and enabling the read-out of the internal state of the device. A cryogenic amplifier amplifies the reflected microwave signal from the device and a homodyne scheme recovers the effects of the incident THz radiation. Two modes of operation have been identified, depending on the level of incident radiation. For weak signals, we use a chopper to chop the incident radiation against a black body reference and a lock-in amplifier to perform synchronous detection of the homodyne readout. The voltage measured is proportional to the incident power, and we estimate an optical noise equivalent power of  5pW/ √Hz at 0.83 THz. At higher signal levels, the homodyne circuit recovers the stream of steady relaxation oscillation pulses from the HEB device. The frequency of these pulses is in the MHz frequency range and bears a linear relationship with the incident THz radiation over an input power range of  15 dB. A digital frequency counter is used to measure THz power. The applicable power range is between 1 nW and 1 μW.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1558-2515 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1354
Permanent link to this record
 

 
Author 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 Type Journal Article
Year 2013 Publication IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Abbreviated Journal IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond.
Volume (down) 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.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1051-8223 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Serial 1372
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Author Lobanov, Y.; Tong, E.; Blundell, R.; Hedden, A.; Voronov, B.; Gol'tsman, G.
Title Large-signal frequency response of an HEB mixer: from 300 MHz to terahertz Type Journal Article
Year 2011 Publication IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. Abbreviated Journal
Volume (down) 21 Issue 3 Pages 628-631
Keywords waveguide NbN HEB mixers
Abstract We present a study of the large signal frequency response of an HEB mixer over a wide frequency range. In our experiments, we have subjected the HEB mixer to incident electromagnetic radiation from 0.3 GHz to 1 THz. The mixer element is an NbN film deposited on crystalline quartz. The mixer chip is mounted in a waveguide cavity, coupled to free space with a diagonal horn. At microwave frequencies, electromagnetic radiation is applied through the coaxial bias port of the mixer block. At higher frequencies the input signal passes via the diagonal horn feed. At each frequency, the incident power is varied and a family of I-V curves is recorded. From the curves we identify 3 distinct regimes of operation of the mixer separated by the phonon relaxation frequency and the superconducting energy gap frequency observed at about 3 GHz and 660 GHz respectively. In this paper, we will present observed curves and discuss the results of our experiment.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number RPLAB @ gujma @ Serial 719
Permanent link to this record