Abstract: Quantum cascade lasers (QCL) are widely adopted as prominent and easy-to-use solid-state sources of terahertz radiation. Yet some applications require generation and detection of very sharp and narrow terahertz-range pulses with a specific spectral composition. We have studied time-resolved light-current (L–I) characteristics of multimode THz QCL operated with a fast ramp of the injection current. Detection of THz pulses was carried out using an NbN superconducting hot-electron bolometer with the time constant of the order of 1 ns while the laser bias current was swept during a single driving pulse. A nonmonotonic behavior of the L–I characteristic with several visually separated subpeaks was found. This behavior is associated with the mode competition in THz QCL cavity, which we confirm by L–I measurements with use of an external Fabry–Perot interferometer for a discrete mode selection. We also have demonstrated the possibility to control the L–I shape with suppression of one of the subpeaks by simply adjusting the off-axis parabolic mirror for optimal optical alignment for one of the laser modes. The developed technique paves the way for rapid characterization of pulsed THz QCLs for further studies of the possibilities of using this approach in remote sensing.

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.

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.