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IEEE Transactions on Magnetics

Electromagnetic radiation mixer based on electron heating in resistive state of superconductive Nb and YBaCuO films

Eugene M. Gershenzon, Gregory N Gol'tsman, Yu. P. Gousev, A. I. Elant’ev, A. D. Semenov

Published Mar 1, 1991• 40 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A theory of an electron-heating mixer which makes it possible to calculate all the characteristics of the device is developed. It is shown that positive conversion gain is possible for such a mixer in the millimeter to near-infrared wavelength range. The dynamic range and the optimum heterodyne power can be selected from a very wide interval by varying the mixing element volume. Measurements made for Nb within the frequency range of 120-750 GHz confirm the theory. The conversion loss obtained at T=1.6 K and normalized to the element reaches 0.3 dB in the intermediate frequency band of 40 MHz; the possible noise temperature is 50 K. The estimation of noise temperature and output band for YBaCuO at T=77 yields 200 K and more than 10 GHz, respectively.

DOI
10.1109/20.133427

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Applied Physics Letters•Sep 21, 1998•16 citations
A theory of an electron-heating mixer which makes it possible to calculate all the characteristics of the device is developed. It is shown that positive conversion gain is possible for such a mixer in the millimeter to near-infrared wavelength range. The dynamic range and the optimum heterodyne power can be selected from a very wide interval by varying the mixing element volume. Measurements made for Nb within the frequency range of 120-750 GHz confirm the theory. The conversion loss obtained at T=1.6 K and normalized to the element reaches 0.3 dB in the intermediate frequency band of 40 MHz; the possible noise temperature is 50 K. The estimation of noise temperature and output band for YBaCuO at T=77 yields 200 K and more than 10 GHz, respectively.
The mixing of 20 GHz radiation in a Nb superconducting film in the resistive state was studied. The experiment gave evidence of electron-heating to be the origin of the non-linear phenomenon. The requirements on the operation mode and on the film parameters in order to obtain small conversion losses or even gain are determined. Our measurements indicate a conversion loss of about 6-8 dB. The hot-electron bolometer is considered to be very promising for use in heterodyne receivers in a wide frequency range from microwaves to terahertz frequencies.
Mixing at 20 GHz in niobium superconducting thin-film strips in the resistive state is studied. Experiments give evidence that electron-heating is the main cause of the nonlinear phenomena. The requirements on the mode of operation and on the film parameters for small conversion loss and the possibility of conversion gain are discussed. Measurements indicate a conversion loss between 1-8 dB and a DSB mixer noise temperature between 100 and 450 K at 20 GHz. The device output noise temperature at the mixer operating point can be as low as 30-40 K. A simple theory that is based on the assumption that the small signal resistance is linearly dependent on power is presented. This type of mixer is considered very promising for use in low-noise heterodyne receivers at THz frequencies.>
A study has been done of microwave mixing at 20 GHz using the nonlinear (power dependent) resistance of thin niobium strips in the resistive state. Our experiments give evidence that electron-heating is the main cause of the nonlinear phenomenon. Also a detailed phenomenological theory for the determination of conversion properties is presented. This theory is capable of predicting the frequency-conversion loss rather accurately for arbitrary bias by examining the I-V characteristic, Knowing the electron temperature relaxation time, and using parameters derived from the I-V-characteristic also allows us to predict the -3-dB IF bandwidth. Experimental results are in excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions. The requirements on the mode of operation and on the film parameters for minimizing the conversion loss (and even achieving conversion gain) are discussed in some detail. Our measurements demonstrate an intrinsic conversion loss as low as 1 dB. The maximum IF frequency defined for 3-dB drop in conversion gain, is about 80 MHz. Noise measurements indicate a device output noise temperature of about 50 K and SSB mixer noise temperature below 250 K. This type of mixer is considered very promising for use in low-noise heterodyne receivers at THz frequencies.>
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
Bolometric mixers based on Nb and NbN superconducting thin films in the resistive state have been prepared for 20, 100 GHz and 350-500 GHz operation. The mixing mechanism is presumably of electron heating origin. Our measurements indicate that a conversion loss of about 6-8 dB can rather easily be achieved, and that the noise is reasonably low. The requirements on the operation mode and on the film parameters in order to obtain small conversion losses or even gain are discussed. For NbN films the availability of nearly 1 GHz IF bandwidth is experimentally demonstrated. NbN hot-electron mixers combined with slot-line tapered antenna on Si membrane or with double-dipole antenna on SiO2 substrate have been fabricated. The devices we study are considered to be very promising for use in heterodyne receivers from microwaves to terahertz frequencies.
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.