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Gol'tsman GN, Karasik BS, Svechnikov SI, Gershenzon EM, Ekström H, Kollberg E. Noise temperature of NbN hot—electron quasioptical superconducting mixer in 200-700 GHz range [abstract]. In: Proc. 6th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol.; 1995. 268.
Abstract: The electron heating effect in superconducting films is becoming very attractive for the development of THz range mixers because of the absence of frequency limitations inherent in the bolometric mechanism. However, the evidence for the spectral dependence of the position of optimal operating point has been found recently for NbN thin film devices 1.2 • The effect is presumably attributed to the variation in the absorption of radiation depending on the frequency. Since the resistive state is not spatially uniform the coupling efficiency of the mixer device with radiation can be different for frequencies larger than Zeilh and those smaller than 2Alh (d is the effective superconducting gap in the resistive state). To study the effect more thoroughly we have investigated the noise temperature of quasioptical NbN mixer device with broken hue tapered slot antenna in the frequency range 200-700 GHz. The device consists of several (5-10) parallel strips 1 jim wide and 6-7 tun thick made from NbN film on Si0 2 -Si 3 N 4 -Si membrane. The strips are connected with the gold contacts of the slot-line antenna which serves both as bias and IF leads. We used backward wave oscillators as LO sources and a standard hot/cold load technique for noise temperature measurements. The frequency dependence of noise temperature is mainly determined by two factors: frequency properties of the antenna and frequency dependence of the NbN film impedance. To separate both factors we monitored the frequency dependence of the device responsivity in the detector mode at a higher temperature within the superconducting transition where the impedance of NbN film is close to its normal resistance. In this case the impedance of the device itself is frequency independent. The experimental results will be reported at the Symposium. 1. G. Gollsman, S. Jacobsson, H. EkstrOm, B. Karasik, E. Kollberg, and E. Gershenzon, “Slot-line tapered antenna with NbN hot electron mixer for 300-360 GHz operation,” Proc of the 5th Int. Symp. on Space Terahertz Technology, pp. 209-213a, May 10-12,1994. 2. B.S. Karasik, G.N. Gol i tsman, B.M. Voronov, S.I. Svechnikov, E.M. Gershenzon, H. Ekstrom, S. Jacobsson, E. Kollberg, and K.S. Yngvesson, “Hot electron quasioptical NbN superconducting mixer,” presented at the ASC94, submitted to IEEE Trans. on Appl. Superconductivity.
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Gershenzon EM, Gershenzon ME, Gol'tsman GN, Semenov AD, Sergeev AV. Heating of electrons in a superconductor in the resistive state by electromagnetic radiation. Sov Phys JETP. 1984;59(2):442–50.
Abstract: The effect of heating of electrons relative to phonons is observed and investigated in a superconducting film that is made resistive by current and by an external magnetic field. The effect is manifested by an increase of the film resistance under the influence of the electromagnetic radiation, and is not selective in the frequency band 10^10-10^15 Hz. The independence of the effect of frequency under conditions of strong scattering by static defects is attributed to the decisive role of electron-electron collisions in the distribution function. The experimentally obtained characteristic time of resistance variation near the superconducting transition corresponds to the relaxation time of the order parameter, while at lower temperatures and fields it corresponds to the time of the inelastic electron-phonon interaction.
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Gershenzon EM, Gershenzon ME, Gol'tsman GN, Semyonov AD, Sergeev AV. Heating of electrons in superconductor in the resistive state due to electromagnetic radiation. Solid State Communications. 1984;50(3):207–12.
Abstract: The effect of heating electrons with respect to phonons in a thin superconducting film driven into the resistive state by the current and the external magnetic field has been observed and investigated. This effect caused by the electromagnetic radiation is manifested in the increased resistance of the film and is not selective over the frequency range from 1010 to 1015 Hz. That the effect is frequency independent under the conditions of strong electron scattering caused by static defects is explained by the decisive role of electron -electron collisions in forming the distribution function. The characteristic time of resistance change, obtained experimentally, corresponds to the relaxation time of the order parameter near the superconducting transition and to the relaxation time of the nonelastic electron-phonon interaction at lower temperatures and in lower magnetic fields.
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Gershenzon EM, Gol'tsman GN. Effect of electromagnetic radiation on a superconductor in a magnetic field. In: Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Seriya Fizicheskaya. Vol 52.; 1988. p. 449–51.
Abstract: The effect of electromagnetic radiation on thin superconducting films of Nb with a large number of static defects is investigated experimentally for the case where the film is in the resistive state due to an applied magnetic field and transport current. The results obtained are found to be well described by a model of spatially homogeneous electron heating. It is noted that the results obtained here for Nb films are also valid for Al, NbN, and MoRe films.
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Loudkov D, Khosropanah P, Cherednichenko S, Adam A, MerkeI H, Kollberg E, et al. Broadband fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) measurements of spiral and double-slot planar antennas at THz frequencies. In: Proc. 13th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol.; 2002. p. 373–369.
Abstract: The direct responses of NbN phonon-cooled hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers, integrated with different planar antennas, are measured, using Fourier Transform Spectrometer (F1S). One spiral antenna and several double slot antennas, designed for 0.6, 1.4, 1.6, 1.8 and 2.5 THz central frequencies, are investigated. The Optimization of the measurement set-up is discussed in terms of the beam splitter and the F11S-to-HEB coupling. The result shows that the spiral antenna is circular polarized and has a bandwidth of about 2 THz. The frequency bands of double slot antennas show some shift from the design values and their relative bandwidth increases by increasing the design frequency. The antenna responses do not depend on the HEB bias point and temperature, as long as the device is in the resistive state.
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Schwaab GW, Sirmain G, Schubert J, Hubers H-W, Gol'tsman G, Cherednichenko S, et al. Investigation of NbN phonon-cooled HEB mixers at 2.5 THz. IEEE Trans Appl Supercond. 1999;9(2):4233–6.
Abstract: The development of superconducting hot electron bolometric (HEB) mixers has been a big step forward in the direction of quantum noise limited mixer performance at THz frequencies. Such mixers are crucial for the upcoming generation of airborne and spaceborne THz heterodyne receivers. In this paper we report on new results on a phonon-cooled NbN HEB mixer using e-beam lithography. The superconducting film is 3 nm thick. The mixer is 0.2 μm long and 1.5 μm wide and it is integrated in a spiral antenna on a Si substrate. The device is quasi-optically coupled through a Si lens and a dielectric beam combiner to the radiation of an optically pumped FIR ring gas laser cavity. The performance of the mixer at different THz frequencies from 0.69 to 2.55 THz with an emphasis on 2.52 THz is demonstrated. At 2.52 THz minimum DSB noise temperatures of 4200 K have been achieved at an IF of 1.5 GHz and a bandwidth of 40 MHz with the mixer mounted in a cryostat and a 0.8 m long signal path in air.
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Finkel MI, Maslennikov SN, Vachtomin YB, Svechnikov SI, Smirnov KV, Seleznev VA, et al. Hot electron bolometer mixer for 20 – 40 THz frequency range. In: Proc. 16th Int. Symp. Space Terahertz Technol. Göteborg, Sweden; 2005. p. 393–7.
Abstract: The developed HEB mixer was based on a 5 nm thick NbN film deposited on a GaAs substrate. The active area of the film was patterned as a 30×20 μm 2 strip and coupled with a 50 Ohm coplanar line deposited in situ. An extended hemispherical germanium lens was used to focus the LO radiation on the mixer. The responsivity of the mixer was measured in a direct detection mode in the 25÷64 THz frequency range. The noise performance of the mixer and the directivity of the receiver were investigated in a heterodyne mode. A 10.6 μm wavelength CW CO 2 laser was utilized as a local oscillator.
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Gershenzon EM, Gol'tsman GN. Hot-electron superconducting mixers. In: Birch JR, Parker TJ, editors. Proc. SPIE. Vol 2104. SPIE; 1993. p. 329–30.
Abstract: The creation of low noise heterodyne receivers for frequencies above 1 THz is in the urgentneed for radio astronomy, laser spectroscopy, plasma diagnostic, etc. In this paper we discussthe nonlinear effect related to hot electrons in superconductors, and their potential use in lownoise submilimeter wave mixer. We also discuss results achieved so far as well as possible futuredevelopments.
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Rönnung F, Cherednichenko S, Winkler D, Gol'tsman GN. A nanoscale YBCO mixer optically coupled with a bow tie antenna. Supercond Sci Technol. 1999;12(11):853–5.
Abstract: The bolometric response of YBa2Cu3O7-δ(YBCO) hot-electron bolometers (HEBs) to near-infrared radiation was studied. Devices were fabricated from a 50 nm thick film and had in-plane areas of 10 × 10 µm2, 2 × 0.2 µm2, 1 × 0.2µm2 and 0.5 × 0.2 µm2. We found that nonequilibrium phonons cool down more effectively for the bolometers with smaller area. For the smallest bolometer the bolometric component in the response is 10 dB less than for the largest one.
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Cherednichenko S, Yagoubov P, Il'in K, Gol'tsman G, Gershenzon E. Large bandwidth of NbN phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometer mixers. In: Proc. 27th Eur. Microwave Conf. Vol 2. IEEE; 1997. p. 972–7.
Abstract: The bandwidth of NbN phonon-cooled hot electron bolometer mixers has been systematically investigated with respect to the film thickness and film quality variation. The films, 2.5 to 10 nm thick, were fabricated on sapphire substrates using DC reactive magnetron sputtering. All devices consisted of several parallel strips, each 1 um wide and 2 um long, placed between Ti-Au contact pads. To measure the gain bandwidth we used two identical BWOs operating in the 120-140 GHz frequency range, one functioning as a local oscillator and the other as a signal source. The majority of the measurements were made at an ambient temperature of 4.2 K with optimal LO and DC bias. The maximum 3 dB bandwidth (about 4 GHz) was achieved for the devices made of films which were 2.5-3.5 nm thick, had a high critical temperature, and high critical current density. A theoretical analysis of bandwidth for these mixers based on the two-temperature model gives a good description of the experimental results if one assumes that the electron temperature is equal to the critical temperature.
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