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Journal of Physics Conference Series

Superconducting integrated terahertz receivers

V. P. Koshelets, Andrey B. Ermakov, Lyudmila V. Filippenko, M Yu Fomisky, Nickolay V. Kinev, Oleg S. Kiselev, A. de Lange, Gert J. de Lange, K E Rudakov, Mikhail Yu. Torgashin, В. Л. Вакс, Jinshi Yuan, Huabing Wang

Published Mar 18, 2014• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A Superconducting Integrated Receiver (SIR) comprises on one chip all elements needed for heterodyne detection. Light weight and low power consumption combined with nearly quantum limited sensitivity and a wide tuning range of the superconducting local oscillator make SIR a perfect candidate for many practical applications.
DOI
10.1088/1742-6596/486/1/012026

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A Superconducting Integrated Receiver (SIR) comprises on one chip all elements needed for heterodyne detection: a low-noise SIS mixer with quasioptical antenna, a Flux-Flow Oscillator (FFO) acting as a Local Oscillator (LO) and a second SIS harmonic mixer (HM) for the FFO phase locking. Light weight and low power consumption combined with nearly quantum limited sensitivity and a wide tuning range of the FFO make SIR a perfect candidate for many practical applications. In particular, the SIR developed for novel balloon borne instrument TELIS (TErahertz and submillimeter LImb Sounder) covers frequency range 480 - 650 GHz. As a result of recent receiver's optimization the DSB noise temperature was measured as low as 120 K for the SIR with intermediate frequency (IF) band 4 - 8 GHz. The capability of the SIR for high resolution atmospheric spectroscopy has been successfully proven with scientific balloon flights from Kiruna, North Sweden. Diurnal cycles of ClO and BrO has been observed with BrO line level of only about 0.5 K. Possibility to use the SIRs for analysis of the breathed out air at medical survey has been demonstrated.

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A Superconducting Integrated Receiver (SIR) [1, 2] was proposed more than 10 years ago and finally has been developed for practical applications [3]. A SIR comprises in one chip (size of 4 mm*4 mm*0.5 mm) a low-noise SIS mixer with quasioptical antenna, an flux-flow oscillator (FFO) [4] acting as a Local Oscillator (LO) and a second SIS harmonic mixer (HM) for the FFO phase locking, see Fig. 1. All components of the SIR microcircuits are fabricated in a high quality Nb-AlN/NbN-Nb tri-layer on a Si substrate [5]. The receiver chip is placed on the flat back surface of the silicon lens, forming an integrated lens-antenna. Light weight and low power consumption combined with nearly quantum limited sensitivity and a wide tuning range of the FFO make SIR a perfect candidate for many practical applications. In particular we have developed integrated receiver for novel balloon borne instrument TELIS (Terahertz Limb Sounder) [6]. TELIS is a collaborative European project to build a three-channel heterodyne balloon-based spectrometer for measuring a variety of the stratosphere constituents.

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Integrated sub-MM wave receivers

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The concept of a fully integrated superconducting receiver looks very attractive for sub-mm space astronomy where low weight, power consumption and volume are required. The possibility to integrate on a few chips the different planar components: a SIS mixer, a superconducting local oscillator (LO), an intermediate frequency amplifier followed by superconducting circuits for digitizing and processing of down converted signals, is discussed. A first implementation of a real integrated quasioptical receiver for frequencies up to 500 GHz is described. The one-chip receiver comprises a double dipole antenna, parallel biased SIS array mixer and Josephson Flux Flow Oscillator (FFO) with matching circuits. The results of extensive investigations of the integrated receiver as well as design and investigation of novel superconducting elements are presented.>

IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity•Jun 1, 1995•28 citations
A Superconducting Integrated Receiver (SIR) comprises on one chip all elements needed for heterodyne detection: a low-noise SIS mixer with quasioptical antenna, a Flux-Flow Oscillator (FFO) acting as a Local Oscillator (LO) and a second SIS harmonic mixer (HM) for the FFO phase locking. Light weight and low power consumption combined with nearly quantum limited sensitivity and a wide tuning range of the FFO make SIR a perfect candidate for many practical applications. In particular, the SIR developed for novel balloon borne instrument TELIS (TErahertz and submillimeter LImb Sounder) covers frequency range 480 - 650 GHz. As a result of recent receiver's optimization the DSB noise temperature was measured as low as 120 K for the SIR with intermediate frequency (IF) band 4 - 8 GHz. The capability of the SIR for high resolution atmospheric spectroscopy has been successfully proven with scientific balloon flights from Kiruna, North Sweden. Diurnal cycles of ClO and BrO has been observed with BrO line level of only about 0.5 K. Possibility to use the SIRs for analysis of the breathed out air at medical survey has been demonstrated.
A superconducting integrated receiver (SIR) comprises all of the elements needed for heterodyne detection on a single chip. Light weight and low power consumption combined with nearly quantum-limited sensitivity and a wide tuning range of the superconducting local oscillator make the SIR a perfect candidate for many practical applications. For the first time, we demonstrated the capabilities of the SIR technology for remote operation under harsh environmental conditions and for heterodyne spectroscopy at atmospheric limb sounding on board a high-altitude balloon. Recently, the SIR was successfully implemented for the first spectral measurements of THz radiation emitted from intrinsic Josephson junction stacks (BSCCO mesa) at frequencies up to 750 GHz; linewidth below 10 MHz has been recorded in the high bias regime. The phase-locked SIR has been used for the locking of the BSCCO oscillator under the test. To extend the operation range of the SIR well above 1 THz, a new technique for fabrication of high-quality SIS tunnel junctions with gap voltage Vg up to 5.3 mV has been developed. Integration of a superconducting high-harmonic phase detector with a cryogenic oscillator opens a possibility for efficient phase locking of the sources with free-running linewidth up to 30 MHz that is important both for BSCCO mesa and NbN/MgO/NbN oscillators.
A Superconducting Integrated Receiver (SIR) [1, 2] was proposed more than 10 years ago and finally has been developed for practical applications [3]. A SIR comprises in one chip (size of 4 mm*4 mm*0.5 mm) a low-noise SIS mixer with quasioptical antenna, an flux-flow oscillator (FFO) [4] acting as a Local Oscillator (LO) and a second SIS harmonic mixer (HM) for the FFO phase locking, see Fig. 1. All components of the SIR microcircuits are fabricated in a high quality Nb-AlN/NbN-Nb tri-layer on a Si substrate [5]. The receiver chip is placed on the flat back surface of the silicon lens, forming an integrated lens-antenna. Light weight and low power consumption combined with nearly quantum limited sensitivity and a wide tuning range of the FFO make SIR a perfect candidate for many practical applications. In particular we have developed integrated receiver for novel balloon borne instrument TELIS (Terahertz Limb Sounder) [6]. TELIS is a collaborative European project to build a three-channel heterodyne balloon-based spectrometer for measuring a variety of the stratosphere constituents.
A Superconducting Integrated Receiver (SIR) was proposed more than 10 years ago and has since then been developed up to the point of practical applications. We have demonstrated for the first time the capabilities of the SIR technology for heterodyne spectroscopy both in the laboratory and at remote operation under harsh environmental conditions for atmospheric research. Within a SIR the main components needed for a superconducting heterodyne receiver such as an SIS-mixer with quasi-optical antenna, a Flux-Flow oscillator (FFO) as the local oscillator, and a harmonic mixer to phase-lock the FFO are integrated on a single chip. Light weight and low power consumption combined with broadband operation and nearly quantum limited sensitivity make the SIR a perfect candidate for future airborne and space-borne missions. The noise temperature of the SIR was measured to be as low as 85 K, with an intermediate frequency band of 4-8 GHz in double sideband operation; the spectral resolution is well below 1 MHz. The SIR was implemented in the three-channel balloon-borne instrument TELIS (TErahertz and submillimeter LImb Sounder) that detects spectral emission lines of stratospheric trace gases (like ClO and BrO). These gases even in small quantities can have a significant impact on the atmosphere because they speed up certain chemical processes, such as ozone depletion.
The concept of the fully Superconducting Integrated Receiver (SIR) has been developed and experimentally demonstrated. The single-chip submm wave receiver includes a planar antenna integrated with a SIS mixer, which is pumped by an internal superconducting Flux Flow Oscillator (FFO) as local oscillator (LO). A DSB noise temperature below 100 K has been demonstrated around 500 GHz. Heterodyne measurements have shown that the instantaneous bandwidth of the receiver is 15 – 20 % which meets the requirements of practical applications. The double-dipole lens-antenna SIS mixer has an antenna beam ≈ f/9 with sidelobes below- 16 dB. This enables an efficient coupling of the SIR to the telescope antenna. With the FFO phase locked in the frequency range 270- 440 GHz a linewidth as low as 1 Hz has been measured relative to a reference oscillator. A compact array of 9 SIRs has been developed and tested. Each pixel contains an internally pumped receiver chip, which is mounted on the back of an elliptical silicon lens. A noise temperature of about 150 K has been measured at 500 GHz using the internal FFO for the imaging array of Integrated Receivers.
The concept of a fully integrated superconducting receiver looks very attractive for sub-mm space astronomy where low weight, power consumption and volume are required. The possibility to integrate on a few chips the different planar components: a SIS mixer, a superconducting local oscillator (LO), an intermediate frequency amplifier followed by superconducting circuits for digitizing and processing of down converted signals, is discussed. A first implementation of a real integrated quasioptical receiver for frequencies up to 500 GHz is described. The one-chip receiver comprises a double dipole antenna, parallel biased SIS array mixer and Josephson Flux Flow Oscillator (FFO) with matching circuits. The results of extensive investigations of the integrated receiver as well as design and investigation of novel superconducting elements are presented.>