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Demonstration of a fully integrated superconducting receiver with a 27 THz quantum cascade laser

Wei Miao, Zheng Lou, Gangyi Xu, Jie Hu, Shao-Liang Li, Wen Zhang, Kangmin Zhou, Qijun Yao, Kun Zhang, Wenying Duan, Sheng‐Cai Shi, R. Colombelli, Harvey E. Beere, D. A. Ritchie

Published Feb 12, 2015• 12 citations

Abstract

We demonstrate for the first time the integration of a superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer and a quantum cascade laser (QCL) on the same 4-K stage of a single cryostat, which is of particular interest for terahertz (THz) HEB/QCL integrated heterodyne receivers for practical applications. Two key issues are addressed. Firstly, a low power consumption QCL is adopted for preventing its heat dissipation from destroying the HEB's superconductivity. Secondly, a simple spherical lens located on the same 4-K stage is introduced to optimize the coupling between the HEB and the QCL, which has relatively limited output power owing to low input direct current (DC) power. Note that simulation techniques are used to design the HEB/QCL integrated heterodyne receiver to avoid the need for mechanical tuning. The integrated HEB/QCL receiver shows an uncorrected noise temperature of 1500 K at 2.7 THz, which is better than the performance of the same receiver with all the components not integrated.

DOI: 10.1364/oe.23.004453

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We demonstrate for the first time the integration of a superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer and a quantum cascade laser (QCL) on the same 4-K stage of a single cryostat, which is of particular interest for terahertz (THz) HEB/QCL integrated heterodyne receivers for practical applications. Two key issues are addressed. Firstly, a low power consumption QCL is adopted for preventing its heat dissipation from destroying the HEB's superconductivity. Secondly, a simple spherical lens located on the same 4-K stage is introduced to optimize the coupling between the HEB and the QCL, which has relatively limited output power owing to low input direct current (DC) power. Note that simulation techniques are used to design the HEB/QCL integrated heterodyne receiver to avoid the need for mechanical tuning. The integrated HEB/QCL receiver shows an uncorrected noise temperature of 1500 K at 2.7 THz, which is better than the performance of the same receiver with all the components not integrated.

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We have developed the 3.1-THz heterodyne receiver using an NbTiN Hot-Electron Bolometer (HEB) mixer and a THz Quantum Cascade Laser (THz-QCL) as a local oscillator. A quasi optical twin-slot antenna is adopted for the coupling of the RF signal with the mixer. The receiver noise temperature is measured to be 5600 K in DSB. When the optical loss is corrected, it is as low as 2100 K. This result demonstrates that the NbTiN HEB mixer works with the equivalent level of performance at 3.1 THz in comparison with the NbN HEB mixers usually employed in this frequency region.

We report here a sensitivity measurement of an all solid-state heterodyne receiver which uses a twin slot antenna coupled, small superconducting NbN hot electron bolometer as mixer and a semiconductor quantum cascade laser operating at 2.8 THz as local oscillator. We measure a double sideband receiver noise temperature of 3200 K at 2.8 THz and 4.2 K. We find that the optimal LO power is 33 nW measured at HEB and 1.3 /spl mu/W estimated at the QCL, much lower than the output power of the QCL. Such a receiver can be used for high-resolution spectroscopy above 2 THz and is particularly suitable for space-based observatories.

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Heterodyne receivers for applications in astronomy and planetary research need quantum limited sensitivity. In instruments which are currently build for SOFIA and Herschel superconducting hot electron bolometers (HEB) will be used to achieve this goal at frequencies above 1.4 THz. The local oscillator and the mixer are the most critical components for a heterodyne receiver operating at 3-5 THz. The design and performance of an optically pumped THz gas laser optimized for this frequency band will be presented. In order to optimize the performance for this frequency hot electron bolometer mixers with different in-plane dimensions and logarithmic-spiral feed antennas have been investigated. Their noise temperatures and beam patterns were measured. Above 3 THz the best performance was achieved with a superconducting bridge of 2.0 x 0.2 μm2 incorporated in a logarithmic spiral antenna. The DSB noise temperatures were 2700 K, 4700 K and 6400 K at 3.1 THz, 4.3 THz and 5.2 THz, respectively. The results demonstrate that the NbN HEB is very well suited as a mixer for THz heterodyne receivers up to at least 5 THz.