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Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE

Nonlinear THz mixing in YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 thin film hot electron bolometers

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

Published Dec 22, 1998• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

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.

DOI
10.1117/12.335898

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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.
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
We report on an experimental investigation of high-Tc superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers of YBCO. These mixers were tested at 100 and 530 GHz LO for a range of temperatures around 77 K. The conversion gain of -32 dB was measured at an LO power of about 1 mW (530 GHz) and 0.3 GHz IF. The mixers were integrated with a logarithmic spiral antenna on a silicon lens, providing a broad frequency coverage (well above 1 THz). To measure the incident RF signal power we used the homodyne responsivity (see abstract "Terahertz response of YBCO HEB homodyne detectors") which is referenced to the input of the silicon lens where the bolometers were glued. Corrections were made for losses in the cryostat window and polarization losses between the signal and antenna. We made the measurements at different temperatures and different LO power levels which were measured using a quasi optical detector at room temperature. The 3 dB gain bandwidth was measured to be about 0.2 GHz. The bolometer bridges have nominal dimensions 1 μm x 2 μm x 50 nm and are fabricated on sapphire substrates using UV photolithography. Backward wave oscillators sources were used at 530 GHz and Gunn diodes at 100 GHz.
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.
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.
Hot electron bolometers (HEB) made from high-TC superconducting YBa2Cu3O7–x (YBCO) oxide nano-constrictions are promising THz mixers, due to their expected wide bandwidth, large mixing gain, and low intrinsic noise. The challenge for YBCO resides, however, in the chemical reactivity of the material and the related aging effects. In this paper, we model and simulate the frequency dependent performance of YBCO HEBs operating as THz mixers. We recall first the main hypotheses of our hot spot model taking into account both the RF frequency effects in the YBCO superconducting transition and the nano-constriction impedance at THz frequencies. The predicted performance up to 4 THz is given in terms of double sideband noise temperature TDSB and conversion gain G. At 2.5 THz for instance, TDSB ≅ 1000 K and G ≅ − 6 dB could be achieved at 12.5 μW local oscillator power. We then consider a standoff target detection scheme and examine the feasibility with YBCO devices. For instance, detection at 3 m through cotton cloth in passive imaging mode could be readily achieved in moderate humidity conditions with 10 K resolution.