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Applied Physics Letters

Gain bandwidth and noise characteristics of millimeter-wave YBa2Cu3O7 hot-electron bolometer mixers

Chao-Te Li, Bascom S. Deaver, Mark Lee, Robert M. Weikle, Rajesh A. Rao, Chang‐Beom Eom

Published Sep 21, 1998• 16 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Conversion gain bandwidth and noise characteristics are reported for lattice-cooled superconducting YBa2Cu3O7 hot-electron bolometers acting as low-power, wide-bandwidth heterodyne mixers at 75 and 585 GHz. Near 77 K, these mixers show intrinsic conversion gain as high as −16 dB using ∼1 μW of local oscillator power. The measured gain bandwidth is well described by a single Lorentzian with −3 dB frequency of 5–9 GHz. Measurements of output noise combined with conversion gain indicate an optimal input noise temperature of ∼5000 K, significantly lower than calculations predict.

DOI
10.1063/1.122268

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IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity•Mar 1, 2001•17 citations
Conversion gain bandwidth and noise characteristics are reported for lattice-cooled superconducting YBa2Cu3O7 hot-electron bolometers acting as low-power, wide-bandwidth heterodyne mixers at 75 and 585 GHz. Near 77 K, these mixers show intrinsic conversion gain as high as −16 dB using ∼1 μW of local oscillator power. The measured gain bandwidth is well described by a single Lorentzian with −3 dB frequency of 5–9 GHz. Measurements of output noise combined with conversion gain indicate an optimal input noise temperature of ∼5000 K, significantly lower than calculations predict.
The conversion gain bandwidth characteristics of millimeter-wave mixers using high-Tc superconducting YBa2Cu307 (YBCO) thin films are presented. The YBCO films are patterned into latticecooled hot-electron bolometers (HEB) coupled to an integrated antenna and transmission line. Direct heterodyne and homodyne down-conversion measurements using local-oscillator frequencies of 75 GHz and 585 GHz show overall conversion gains of -35 dB, which includes a -18 dB coupling loss. The gain bandwidth shows a simple Lorentzian roll-off with -3 dB point of 5 to 8 GHz. No second plateau in the gain spectrum has been observed, in contrast to other reports. The effective volume of the HEB is believed to be significantly smaller than the physical dimensions of the device. Gershenzon, et al. 1 first proposed the design of a lattice-cooled superconducting hot-electron bolometer (HEB) for use as a low-power, wide-band-width heterodyne mixer at millimeter and submillimeter-wave frequencies. This idea has been successfully implemented using NbN , which shows a conversion gain as high as -15 dB using 1 1.tW of pump power at a temperature of 4.2 K. The ultimate speed and bandwidth of the lattice-cooled HEB is determined by the electron-phonon scattering rate. For this reason, Gershenzon 3 suggested that the high normal-state resistivity of the high-Tc superconductor YBa2Cu307 (YBCO) could indicate a very fast electron inelastic scattering, rate and so make this material an ideal candidate to produce a very wide instantaneous bandwidth lattice-cooled HEB operating at 77 K. The first reports of such mixers at 1.5 gm (Ref. 4) and 9.6 gm (Ref. 5) wavelengths showed a very low intrinsic conversion gain of -77 dB (excluding coupling losses) using a relatively large 0.3 mW of absorbed LO power. However, the gain bandwidth showed a twoplateau structure. A low frequency plateau near -77 dB rolled off near 1 GHz intermediate frequency (IF) but gave way to a second plateau near -90 dB that extended to at least 18 GHz, the upper limit of the measurement. Karasik, et al., have done extensive calculations on the conversion gain properties of lattice-cooled HEB mixers for different mixer dimensions, using a two-temperature model. They found that the conversion gain increases
Low power characteristics of superconducting hot-electron bolometric mixers using YBa2Cu3O7 are reported. Near 77 K, these mixers have a responsivity of 780 V/W using 8 nW of local oscillator (LO) power at 585 GHz. The responsivity can be shown to be truly bolometric. Heterodyne mixing at 87 GHz shows an overall conversion gain of −47 dB at 1.8 GHz intermediate frequency, using 3.3 mW of incident LO power. The intrinsic conversion gain is estimated to be −16 dB with 1 μW of LO power, close to the calculated optimal values.
We report on the gain bandwidth and noise characteristics of far-infrared mixers using high-Tc superconducting YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) thin films. The YBCO films are patterned into lattice-cooled hot-electron bolometers (HEBs) coupled to an integrated antenna and transmission line. Heterodyne and homodyne down- conversion using LO frequencies of 115 GHz and 585 GHz show a device conversion gain of as high as -9.5 dB at 66 K using 1 micro W of LO power. Y-factor noise measurements show a double-sideband noise temperature of 3400 K at 66 K. Both gain and noise bandwidths show a single-pole roll-off with -3 dB point near 10 GHz.
Small volume high-Tc super-conducting YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) thin films are used as low power, very wide bandwidth mixers in the frequency range of 75 GHz to 2.5 THz. The YBCO films are patterned into lattice-cooled hot-electron bolometers (HEB) coupled to an integrated Au thin-film antenna and transmission line. Near 77 K, these mixers have responsivity as high as 780 V/W using only 8 nW of local oscillator (LO) power at 585 GHz. The responsivity can be shown to be truly bolometric. Direct heterodyne and homodyne down-conversion mixing using local-oscillator frequencies of 75 GHz and 585 GHz show overall conversion gains of -35 dB, which includes a -18 dB coupling loss, using only approximately 1 (mu) W of LO power. The gain bandwidth shows a simple Lorentzian roll-off with -3 dB point of 5 to 8 GHz. The large gain bandwidth and small power requirements make these high-Tc superconducting mixers an attractive alternative to existing Schottky diode and conventional superconducting receiver technologies.
Mixing experiments have been performed at frequencies from 4 to 20 GHz on Nb thin-film superconducting hot-electron bolometers varying in length from 0.08 to 3 μm. The intermediate frequency (IF) bandwidth is found to vary as L−2, with L the bridge length, for devices shorter than √12 Le−ph≊1 μm, with Le−ph the electron-phonon length. The shortest device has an IF bandwidth greater than 6 GHz, the largest reported for a low-Tc superconducting bolometric mixer. The conversion efficiencies range from −5 to −11 dB (single sideband, SSB). For short bridges, the mixer noise temperature is found to be as low as 100 K (double sideband, DSB), with little length dependence. The local oscillator power required is small, ≊10 nW. Such mixers are very promising for low-noise THz heterodyne receivers.
We report on microwave measurements of superconducting aluminum hot-electron bolometers (Al HEBs). Diffusion-cooled Al HEB mixers are good candidates for space-borne applications in the Terahertz frequency range since they are predicted to have small local oscillator (LO) power requirements, intermediate frequency (IF) bandwidths /spl gsim/10 GHz, and a noise temperature lower than that of Nb and NbN HEB mixers. Mixer measurements were made at an LO frequency /spl sim/30 GHz, with an IF in the range 0.1 to 7.3 GHz. For T<0.8 K, a magnetic field H=0.1-0.3 T was applied to suppress the superconductivity in the contact pads, and partly in the bridge. For a 0.6 /spl mu/m long device, we measure an IF bandwidth of 4 GHz, a conversion efficiency /spl eta/=-8 dB, and a mixer noise temperature T/sub M//spl gsim/4 K, DSB (T/sub mixer/=T/sub output noise//2/spl eta/). These results are shown to be in quantitative agreement with simple theoretical predictions.