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Superconductor Science and Technology

Optimised conversion efficiency of a HTS MMIC Josephson down-converter

Jia Du, D D Bai, Ting Zhang, Y. Jay Guo, Y.-S. He, Colin M. Pegrum

Published Aug 29, 2014• 14 citations
Publisher

Abstract

© 2014 IOP Publishing Ltd. A high-Tc superconducting (HTS) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) Josephson down-converter that approaches zero conversion loss is reported. The all-HTS YBa2Cu3O7-x thin-film circuit consists of a step-edge Josephson junction mixer, a 10-12 GHz bandpass filter for the RF input, a lowpass filter for the IF output and a resonant strip line for local oscillator isolation; all are integrated on a single 10 mm × 20 mm MgO substrate. The DC characteristics of the junction and its mixing properties have been experimentally studied and compared to the results of (a) a single Josephson mixer without the on-chip HTS filters, and (b) our previously reported MMIC down-converter which had very different junction characteristics. The Josephson junction parameters are analysed to give insight into their effect on the mixer performance.

DOI
10.1088/0953-2048/27/10/105002

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© 2014 IOP Publishing Ltd. A high-Tc superconducting (HTS) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) Josephson down-converter that approaches zero conversion loss is reported. The all-HTS YBa2Cu3O7-x thin-film circuit consists of a step-edge Josephson junction mixer, a 10-12 GHz bandpass filter for the RF input, a lowpass filter for the IF output and a resonant strip line for local oscillator isolation; all are integrated on a single 10 mm × 20 mm MgO substrate. The DC characteristics of the junction and its mixing properties have been experimentally studied and compared to the results of (a) a single Josephson mixer without the on-chip HTS filters, and (b) our previously reported MMIC down-converter which had very different junction characteristics. The Josephson junction parameters are analysed to give insight into their effect on the mixer performance.
A compact high-Tc superconducting monolithic microwave integrated circuit Josephson down-converter is presented. The circuit consists of a single Josephson junction mixer, a bandpass filter, a lowpass filter, and a resonator for local oscillator fabricated on a single 10 mm × 20 mm chip of YBa2Cu3O7−x film on MgO substrate. The down-converter demonstrates superior performance in terms of conversion efficiency, dynamic range, linearity, and low local oscillator power with stable operation from 20 to 77 K. A maximum conversion gain of −4.7 dB was measured at 20 K and −12.8 dB at 70 K.
A monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) frequency down-converter based on a compact high-Tc superconducting (HTS) device is demonstrated. The on-chip integrated HTS down-converter consists of a 7–9 GHz bandpass filter for RF input, a lowpass filter for intermediate frequency output, and a self-pumped Josephson heterodyne mixer. All the above passive and active components are fabricated on a single 10 mm × 20 mm chip of YBa2Cu3O7−x film on MgO substrate. Characterization of this MMIC HTS down-converter in terms of frequency response, conversion gain, frequency-tuneability, bias dependence, dynamic range, linearity, and intrinsic noise are presented in this paper.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization has developed superconducting microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) mixers using step-edge Josephson junctions and on-chip filters, made from YBaCuO on MgO substrates. Integration into an MMIC results in a compact and efficiently coupled structure. These have been shown to have outstanding conversion efficiency, dynamic range, and linearity. We report here a range of simulations of this type of mixer. We have mainly used Josephson simulators and analyze the data in both the time and frequency domains. More recently, we have also used microwave simulators incorporating a novel Verilog-A Josephson junction model that we have developed. We have looked at the interactions of junction bias current, local oscillator power, and radio-frequency input power with conversion efficiency, dynamic range, and linearity. Good agreement is found overall with measurements.
A compact high-Tc superconducting (HTS) monolithic downconverter is presented. The HTS passive and active devices are integrated on one single chip to achieve compactness and high coupling efficiency. The downconverter consists of a HTS YBa2Cu3O7−x (YBCO) bandpass filter for RF input, a lowpass filter for IF output, and a self-pumped step-edge Josephson heterodyne mixer fabricated on a 20 ×10 mm MgO substrate. Characterisations of the HTS filters and the frequency response of the on-chip integrated downconverter are reported. The results demonstrate the potential of the HTS downconverter for applications in wireless communications.
A high-temperature superconducting (HTS) Josephson frequency down-converting module is demonstrated. An HTS monolithic frequency down-converting circuit and a biasing circuit board for the Josephson device are packaged into the module. The monolithic circuit consists of HTS filters and a Josephson oscillator-mixer device, integrated on a single 10 mm × 20 mm chip of Y Ba 2 Cu 3 O 7− x (YBCO) film on MgO substrate. A compact, low-loss HTS step-impedance low-pass filter was designed for the intermediate frequency (IF) output port. The modeling, simulation and measurement results of the HTS low-pass filter are presented in this paper. The frequency response and dynamic range of the on-chip integrated HTS down-converting module are also described.
We report the experimental evaluation of a high-temperature superconducting (HTS) Josephson mixer. The mixer is fabricated from a HTS step-edge junction on MgO substrate. The mixer device operates as a lower side-band down-converter from a radio frequency between 6 and 10 GHz to a 1-2 GHz intermediate frequency under the action of a local oscillator. The experimental results of the current-voltage characteristics, optimal bias conditions, dynamic range, linearity, conversion gain, and the temperature dependence of the mixer are presented.