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Radio and Electronic Engineer

Applications of the josephson effects in the millimetre and submillimetre wavelength regions

T. G. Blaney

Published Jan 1, 1972• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The Josephson effects, which arise at a suitable junction between two pieces of superconducting material, have several applications at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths. Devices based on the effects can be used as video detectors, harmonic mixers and frequency analysers, often with unique properties. These and other possible applications are described, and the current experimental situation using the ‘point contact’ type of junction is outlined.

DOI
10.1049/ree.1972.0049

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Oxford University Press eBooks•Nov 17, 2011•0 citations
The Josephson effects, which arise at a suitable junction between two pieces of superconducting material, have several applications at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths. Devices based on the effects can be used as video detectors, harmonic mixers and frequency analysers, often with unique properties. These and other possible applications are described, and the current experimental situation using the ‘point contact’ type of junction is outlined.
Josephson junctions are highly nonlinear and respond up to infrared frequencies. A wide variety of high frequency applications have been explored. In addition, several high frequency superconducting devices are being developed which do not use the Josephson effect. These include a superconducting version of the Schottky barrier diode for use as a heterodyne mixer and a video detector, and also a composite superconducting bolometer. In this review, the state of development of superconducting mixers, detectors, and parametric amplifiers at microwave, millimeter, and submillimeter wavelengths is discussed. Emphasis will be placed on developments which have taken place since 1974 when a previous review was circulated.
Quasiparticle and Josephson tunneling currents in superconducting tunnel junctions provide nonlinear low-noise response up to terahertz frequencies. Many types of direct detector heterodyne mixer and parametric amplifier based on these effects have been explored. Only the SIS quasiparticle mixer has been sufficiently competitive to find significant applications. These mixers can have noise approaching the quantum limit TN = ℏω/k and gain larger than 10 dB. They are used at a number of observatories for molecular line radio astronomy at millimeter wavelengths. Similar applications at submillimeter wavelengths are beginning.
Abstract : The term 'Josephson effects' refers to a number of unusual properties of current flow through a barrier or weak link between two superconductors. Such a structure--called a Josephson junction--gives rise to frequency conversion effects that suggest its use as an oscillator-mixer in the millimeter and submillimeter region. Such a device would offer high sensitivity, broad bandwidth, tunability, and, in certain modes of operation, the possibility of conversion gain. These frequency conversion effects were observed in the range of 100 GHz to 600 GHz and beyond. The junctions were driven by a 75 GHz or 25 GHz klystron while coupled either to a coaxial cavity resonant at 20 GHz or to a resonance at about 500 GHz associated with the junction structure. Lines in the junction voltage-current characteristic were observed which demonstrated that, at certain values of junction bias, power at the rf--or its harmonics--was converted to power at the resonance frequency. An explanation of the experiment is given together with the necessary background, which provides the basis for a discussion of such operational considerations as upper frequency limit, sensitivity, temperature of operation, and saturation behavior at high signal levels. (Author)
The Josephson frequency conversion in the millimeter and submillimeter wave region is studied with superconducting Nb-Nb point contact junctions at 4.2 K, using the contact both as the local oscillator and the mixer with intermediate frequencies of 0.1 and 9.2 GHz. Frequency conversion signals are only detected in the latter case with a microwave receiver at 9.2 GHz in a range of Josephson frequencies between 145 and 1 600 GHz. The experiments with intermediate frequency fi of 0.1 GHz indicate for this small value of f i that the observed signals are not related to frequency conversion but noise effects. An analysis of the frequency conversion mechanism in a Josephson junction operated as an oscillator-mixer is proposed which includes the noise effects and also the feedback effects induced in a junction driven by a constant current source. We have then investigated the noise properties up to 450 GHz of superconducting point-contacts using the junction as an oscillator-mixer where the Josephson current is mixed with harmonics of an externally applied signal. The emitted intermediate frequency is detected at 9.2 GHz and its linewidth is measured. In the very high frequency range the dc quasiparticle current dominates in a Josephson weak-link and we compare the corresponding theoretical linewidth calculated by Scalapino with our experimental results.
The Josephson frequency conversion in the millimeter and submillimeter wave region is studied with superconducting Nb–Nb point-contact junctions at 4.2 °K, using the contact both as the local oscillator and the mixer with intermediate frequencies of 0.1, 0.3, and 9.2 GHz. The point contact is in a nonresonant structure and fed by a constant current source: neither a strong rf coupling of the contact with a cavity nor a stabilizing shunt resistance was proved necessary. The direct observation of frequency conversion was performed with a microwave receiver at 9.2 GHz in a range of Josephson frequencies between 145 and 1600 GHz. The experiments with intermediate frequencies fi of 0.1 and 0.3 GHz indicate that conventional frequency conversion does not occur but that the observed signals are related to noise effects. An analysis of the frequency conversion mechanism in a Josephson junction operated as an oscillator-mixer is proposed which includes the noise effects and also the feedback effects induced in a junction driven by a constant current source. The results show that low-frequency current components are induced in the junction, which can give large spurious signals when small i.f. are used.
Barrier tunnelling devices based on the Josephson effect include superconducting quantum interference detectors (SQUID) in conventional and scanning forms. The use of a scanning SQUID detector to detect a half-flux quantum in a ring of Josephson junctions identifies d-wave superconductivity. The shunted Josephson junction is the basis for the rapid single flux quantum RSFQ class of superconducting logic circuits. The use of RSFQ to form fast analogue to digital ADC converter devices is reported. Various types of radiation detectors are described including SIS detectors, Josephson-effect detectors, and optical point-contact antenna devices.