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Springer proceedings in physics

High-Frequency Limits of Quantum Noise Detectors Based on Superconducting Tunnel Junction Mixers

Dag Winkler, Bengt Nilsson, William R. McGrath, T. Claeson, Joakim F. Johansson, E. Kollberg, S. Rudner

Published Jan 1, 1986• 0 citations
Publisher
DOI
10.1007/978-3-642-71446-7_39

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A complete quantum generalization of microwave mixer theory is constructed for nonlinear single-particle tunnel junctions. The result represents a unification of the concepts used to describe these "classical" resistive mixers with the language of photon detection. Tunneling devices are predicted to undergo a transition from energy detectors to photon counters when operated at frequencies where the photon energy becomes comparable to the voltage scale of the dc nonlinearity. The small-signal video current response is found to approach one electron for each photon absorbed at high frequencies. In a heterodyne receiver, sufficiently nonlinear tunnel junctions are predicted to be capable of achieving the fundamental quantum noise limit for sensitivity in the detection of electromagnetic radiation. The theory presented here thus provides a framework for systematically extending the techniques of quantum electronics to considerably lower frequencies than are currently being exploited. Recent measurements of heterodyne mixer performance using superconductive tunneling devices are already beginning to approach quantum limited results at microwave and millimeter wave frequencies. Eventual application of tunnel barriers as photon detectors in the submillimeter and infrared spectral regions also appears to be possible, and the fast response times of such devices could give them an advantage over photoconductors even at the higher frequencies. The development of suitable nonlinear tunnel junctions contains the potential to bridge the present gap in quantum detectors between the infrared photon devices and microwave masers.

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A complete quantum generalization of microwave mixer theory is constructed for nonlinear single-particle tunnel junctions. The result represents a unification of the concepts used to describe these "classical" resistive mixers with the language of photon detection. Tunneling devices are predicted to undergo a transition from energy detectors to photon counters when operated at frequencies where the photon energy becomes comparable to the voltage scale of the dc nonlinearity. The small-signal video current response is found to approach one electron for each photon absorbed at high frequencies. In a heterodyne receiver, sufficiently nonlinear tunnel junctions are predicted to be capable of achieving the fundamental quantum noise limit for sensitivity in the detection of electromagnetic radiation. The theory presented here thus provides a framework for systematically extending the techniques of quantum electronics to considerably lower frequencies than are currently being exploited. Recent measurements of heterodyne mixer performance using superconductive tunneling devices are already beginning to approach quantum limited results at microwave and millimeter wave frequencies. Eventual application of tunnel barriers as photon detectors in the submillimeter and infrared spectral regions also appears to be possible, and the fast response times of such devices could give them an advantage over photoconductors even at the higher frequencies. The development of suitable nonlinear tunnel junctions contains the potential to bridge the present gap in quantum detectors between the infrared photon devices and microwave masers.
This chapter discusses the high sensitivity superconducting mixers, i.e. detectors used in heterodyne receivers. Today, there are essentially two very successful concepts of superconducting mixers, or frequency down-converters, the superconductor-insulator-superconductor tunnel junction SIS mixer and the superconducting hot-electron bolometer mixer. Moving up to higher frequencies in the microwave and millimeter wave electromagnetic spectra makes it more and more difficult to retrieve a good signal-to-noise ratio with ordinary solid-state amplifiers. The driving force for using superconducting mixers is their excellent down-conversion efficiency and capability to down-convert RF signals from microwave frequencies up to the terahertz region. The main purpose of a receiver is to pick up and amplify a weak signal, which can then be accurately determined in amplitude and phase. The mixer noise temperature and conversion gain are the most important parameters for the mixing device. The Josephson junction mixer was one of the first suggested devices based on superconducting point contacts and later tunnel junctions.
Quasiparticle and Josephson tunneling currents in superconducting tunnel junctions provide nonlinear low-noise response up to terahertz frequencies. Many types of direct detector heterodyne mixer and parametric amplifier based on these effects have been explored. Only the SIS quasiparticle mixer has been sufficiently competitive to find significant applications. These mixers can have noise approaching the quantum limit TN = ℏω/k and gain larger than 10 dB. They are used at a number of observatories for molecular line radio astronomy at millimeter wavelengths. Similar applications at submillimeter wavelengths are beginning.