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Karpov, A., Miller, D., Rice, F., Stern, J. A., Bumble, B., LeDuc, H. G., et al. (2006). Development of 1.25 THz SIS mixer for Herschel Space Observatory. In J. Zmuidzinas, & W. S. Holland (Eds.), Proc. SPIE (Vol. 6275, 62751).
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Karpov, A., Miller, D., Stern, J. A., Bumble, B., LeDuc, H. G., & Zmuidzinas, J. (2009). Broadband SIS mixer for 1 THz Band. In Proc. 20th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. (p. 35).
Abstract: We report the development of a low noise and broadband SIS mixer aimed for 1 THz channel of the Caltech Airborne Submillimeter Interstellar Medium Investigations Receiver (CASIMIR), designed for the Stratospheric Observatory for Far Infrared Astronomy, (SOFIA). The mixer uses an array of 0.24 µm² Nb/Al-AlN/NbTiN SIS junctions with critical current density of 30-50 KA/cm². The junctions are shaped in order to optimize the suppression of the Josephson DC currents. We are using a double slot planar antenna to couple the mixer chip with the telescope beam. The RF matching microcircuit is made using Nb and gold films. The mixer IF circuit is designed to cover 4 – 8 GHz band. A test receiver with the new mixer has a low noise operation in a 0.87 – 1.12 THz band. The minimum DSB receiver noise measured at 1 THz is 260 K (Y=1.64), apparently the lowest reported up to date. The receiver noise corrected for the loss in the LO injection beam splitter and in the cryostat window is 200 K. The combination of a broad operation band of about 250 GHz with a low receiver noise is making the new mixer a useful element for application at SOFIA. We will discuss the prospective of a further improvement of the sensitivity and extension of the upper frequency of operation of SIS mixer.
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Crockett, N. R., Bergin, E. A., Wang, S., Lis, D. C., Bell, T. A., Blake, G. A., et al. (2010). Herschel observations of EXtra-Ordinary Sources (HEXOS): The Terahertz spectrum of Orion KL seen at high spectral resolution. Annual Rev. Astron. Astrophys., 521, L21 (1 to 5).
Abstract: We present the first high spectral resolution observations of Orion KL in the frequency ranges 1573.4–1702.8 GHz (band 6b) and 1788.4–1906.8 GHz (band 7b) obtained using the HIFI instrument on board the Herschel Space Observatory. We characterize the main emission lines found in the spectrum, which primarily arise from a range of components associated with Orion KL including the hot core, but also see widespread emission from components associated with molecular outflows traced by H2O, SO2, and OH. We find that the density of observed emission lines is significantly diminished in these bands compared to lower frequency Herschel/HIFI bands.
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