PT Journal
AU Kawamura, J
   Tong, CE
   Blundell, R
   Papa, DC
   Hunter, TR
   Patt, F
   Gol’tsman, G
   Gershenzon, E
TI Terahertz-frequency waveguide NbN hot-electron bolometer mixer
SO IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond.
JI IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond.
PY 2001
BP 952
EP 954
VL 11
IS 1
DI 10.1109/77.919505
DE NbN HEB mixers
AB We have developed a low-noise waveguide heterodyne receiver for operation near 1 THz using phonon-cooled NbN hot-electron bolometers. The mixer elements are submicron-sized microbridges of 4 nm-thick NbN film fabricated on a quartz substrate. Operating at a bath temperature of 4.2 K, the double-sideband receiver noise temperature is 760 K at 1.02 THz and 1100 K at 1.26 THz. The local oscillator is provided by solid-state sources, and power measured at the source is less than 1 /spl mu/W. The intermediate frequency bandwidth exceeds 2 GHz. The receiver was used to make the first ground-based heterodyne detection of a celestial spectroscopic line above 1 THz.
ER