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International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves (IRMMW-THz)

Broadband THz detection by high-Tc Josephson junctions

Yu. Ya. Divin, Valery V. Pavlovskiy, D.A. Tkachev, O. Yu. Volkov, Vladimir N. Gubankov, Knut W. Urban

Published Sep 1, 2006• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Detection of THz radiation by YBa2Cu3O7-xJosephson bicrystal junctions with high characteristic voltages IcRnup to 8 mV has been studied. The high-resistance junctions have demonstrated a classical detection of radiation with frequencies up to terahertz range. It was shown by numerical simulations, that the values of noise equivalent power NEP-15W/Hz1/2can be reached at the frequencies up to 1.5 THz at junction temperature of 30 K.

DOI
10.1109/icimw.2006.368553

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Superconductor Science and Technology•Nov 21, 2002•15 citations
Detection of THz radiation by YBa2Cu3O7-xJosephson bicrystal junctions with high characteristic voltages IcRnup to 8 mV has been studied. The high-resistance junctions have demonstrated a classical detection of radiation with frequencies up to terahertz range. It was shown by numerical simulations, that the values of noise equivalent power NEP-15W/Hz1/2can be reached at the frequencies up to 1.5 THz at junction temperature of 30 K.
Detection mechanisms in Josephson junctions with energies Ej comparable to thermal energies kT have been studied. The responses ΔV of YBa2Cu3O7−x bicrystal junctions to monochromatic radiation with frequencies f ranging from 94 GHz to 3.1 THz can be described in terms of classical rectification on a static nonlinear V–I curve at low frequencies and frequency modulation of the ac Josephson current at high frequencies, with an interplay between these mechanisms at intermediate frequencies. An electrical noise-equivalent power of (9 ± 3) × 10−15 W/Hz1/2, a responsivity of (3.4 ± 0.5) × 105 V/W, and a dynamic power range of 5 × 104 have been demonstrated for the square-law classical detection of 94 GHz radiation with the junctions at 50 K. The effect of background radiation on the V–I curves of YBa2Cu3O7−x bicrystal junctions was found to have an optical noise-equivalent temperature of ≤30 mK/Hz1/2. The main contribution to the effect comes from the interplay between the classical and Josephson detection mechanisms. The spectral and power dependencies of the responses ΔV of Josephson junctions have been numerically simulated within the resistively shunted junction model at various values of kT/Ej, and the results are in acceptable agreement with the experimental data.
We prepared Josephson junctions made of YBa2Cu3O7 on symmetric 24° LaAlO3 bicrystal substrates. For better coupling of high-frequency radiation, we structured the contacts with logarithmic-periodic antennas made of YBa2Cu3O7. Characterization was done by measuring the voltage–current characteristics to determine the critical current IC, the normal-state resistance RN, the noise parameter Γ, and the Stewart–McCumber parameter βC as predicted by the resistively and capactively shunted junction model (RCSJ). The junctions showed excellent RCSJ-like behavior with ICRN products of up to 2.0 mV at 10 K and 220 μV at 77 K. To demonstrate the possibility to detect high-frequency radiation up to the THz regime, we used the Josephson junction as a detector for radiation from a far-infrared laser and we reconstructed the spectra by Hilbert spectroscopy.
For Josephson bicrystal YBaCuO junctions 3-1.5 μ\muμm in size, the response to an external signal was measured. Receivers with similar IcRNI_{c}R_{N}Ic​RN​ values at helium temperatures and different RNvalues were considered. The amplitudes of the Shapiro steps were measured for various external signal powers. The dependence of the output voltage noise on structure temperature was measured. It is shown that fluctuations of the critical current have the greatest influence on the output noise of the receiver. The volt-watt sensitivity and noise-equivalent power were evaluated for a 165 GHz external signal. Broadband classical detection of THz radiation by a YBaCuO Josephson junction (JJ) was studied based on resistively and capacitively shunted Josephson Junction model. Optimal temperature operating ranges for the use of each structure were shown.
Using high-Tc Josephson junctions made of YBa2Cu3O7−δ deposited across MgO bicrystal boundary, at terahertz (THz) frequency band, we demonstrated both fundamental and harmonic mixing. Radiation from a far-infrared laser was coupled to the junction, which was integrated with a planar bow-tie antenna, via an extended hyperhemispherical silicon lens. Fundamental mixing manifested itself in the junction’s dc current–voltage (I–V) curve as a third Shapiro step in addition to those two induced by the THz laser lines from a slightly misaligned resonator. In harmonic mixing between a THz laser line and a microwave local oscillator, the highest harmonic number we could get was 490 with a signal-to-noise ratio of 9 dB at the intermediate frequency.
For sensitive wideband spectroscopy at TeraHertz frequencies one needs a wide-range electrically tunable THz source and a sensitive detector. In this paper a superconducting normal metal cold electron bolometer (CEB) was used as a broadband sensor. Bolometers were integrated with broadband log-periodic antenna designed for 0.2-2 THz frequency range and double-dipole antennas designed for 300 and 600 GHz central frequency. A Josephson junction was used as a wide band electrically tuned terahertz cryogenic oscillator. Bicrystal YBaCuO Josephson junctions demonstrated a characteristic voltage IcRn of over 4 mV that corresponds to characteristic frequency about 2 THz. The bolometer chip is attached to a Si substrate lens at 260 mK and the oscillator chip is attached to the sapphire substrate lens at 1.8 K, with lenses facing each other at the distance of few centimeters. High signal was measured in the whole frequency range up to 1.7 THz by simple changing the bias voltage of Josephson junction from zero to 3.5 mV. A voltage response of the bolometer up to 4*108 V/W corresponds to an amplifier-limited technical noise equivalent power of the bolometer NEP=1.25*10-17 W/Hz1/2. Combining a Terahertz band Josephson junction, a high-sensitive hot electron bolometer, and a sample under test in between, makes it possible to develop a cryogenic compact Terahertz-band transmission spectrometer with a resolution below 1 GHz corresponding to the linewidth of Josephson oscillations. For frequencies below 600 GHz a conventional Nb shunted SIS junction can be used as Josephson oscillator.
Using YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 /MgO bicrystal Josephson junctions operating between 6–77 K, we have studied their responses to monochromatic electromagnetic radiation from 50 GHz to 4.25 THz. We have obtained direct detections for radiation at 70 K from 50 GHz to 760 GHz and at 40 K from 300 GHz to 3.1 THz. This indicates that fast detectors can be realized to cover the 10:1 frequency band at one operation temperature, and about 100:1 can be covered by operating only one junction at two different temperatures. Both the highest response frequency and the maximum value of the normalized response are shown to be proportional to the I C R N product of the junction, where I C and R N are the critical current and the normal resistance of the junction, respectively.