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IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

SIS receivers for millimeter and submillimeter-wave detection

Domenico Andreone, L. Brunetti, V. Lacquaniti, R. Steni, James R. Thorpe

Published Mar 1, 2001• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In this work we report the current status in our development of sensitive heterodyne detectors for efficient down-conversion of submillimeter-wave signals to D-band. These detectors use the strong non-linearity of Nb/Al-AlO/sub x//Nb tunnel junctions and employ preferably quasi-optical techniques to couple local-oscillator and radio-frequency signals to the superconducting junctions via a log-periodic antenna and hyper-hemispherical lens combination. Several devices have been fabricated and tested.

DOI
10.1109/77.919470

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International Kharkiv Symposium on Physics and Engineering of Microwaves, Millimeter and Submillimeter Waves•Nov 8, 2004•0 citations
In this work we report the current status in our development of sensitive heterodyne detectors for efficient down-conversion of submillimeter-wave signals to D-band. These detectors use the strong non-linearity of Nb/Al-AlO/sub x//Nb tunnel junctions and employ preferably quasi-optical techniques to couple local-oscillator and radio-frequency signals to the superconducting junctions via a log-periodic antenna and hyper-hemispherical lens combination. Several devices have been fabricated and tested.
We have designed, fabricated and evaluated a quasi-optical SIS receiver with NbN/AlN/NbN tunnel junctions in the submillimeter-wave region. The receiver consists of a planar self-complementary log-periodic antenna and MgO hyperhemispherical lens with an anti-reflection cap for RF optics, NbN SIS junctions and a radial short stub tuner to resonate out its capacitance for RF matching. The prepared NbN SIS junction has a current density of 20 kA/cm/sup 2/ and is about 1 /spl mu/m in diameter, supplying a small /spl omega/C/sub J/R/sub N/ product (/spl omega/C/sub J/R/sub N/=3 at 300 GHz). From 297 to 356 GHz the average double sideband (DSB) receiver noise temperature measured by using the standard Y-factor method was about 200 K. The lowest receiver noise temperature, 167 K (DSB), was obtained at around 303 GHz. These results suggest that our NbN SIS junctions can be used for terahertz mixer elements instead of Nb SIS junctions.
A non-linear superconducting transmission line has been successfully employed in heterodyne detection of sub-millimeter waves. In our experiments an Nb/Al/AlOx/Nb tunnel junction, measuring 0.15×40 μm, with a critical current density of about 2500 A/cm2 is used as a distributed mixer element. We have demonstrated that quantum limited sensitivity can be achieved with this type of device. At 460 GHz, a Y-factor of 2.5 has been recorded, corresponding to a double-side-band receiver noise temperature of 80 K. The double-side-band conversion loss is about 1 dB and the mixer noise temperature is estimated to be 18(±10) K.
Sensitive heterodyne receivers are being built at ever higher frequencies with superconducting (SIS) junctions as the first mixer. These devices have extremely sharp non-linearities in their current-voltage characteristics as a result of quantum-mechanical tunneling of electrons across thin insulating barriers. The low energy scale set by the magnitude of the superconducting energy gap implies very low local oscillator power requirements for heterodyne operation. Some general system design considerations for astrophysical receivers are reviewed. These principles are illustrated by discussing two specific applications: a 230 GHz SIS receiver recently installed as a facility instrument at the Swedish-ESO submillimeter telescope in Chile, and the broader receiver requirements of the 6-antenna submillimeter array (SMA), an interferometer now being designed at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The SMA will require receivers at frequencies as high as 820 GHz, and will place some unique demands on detector performance.
Heterodyne mixers based on superconducting SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) tunnel junctions have been demonstrated to be the most sensitive coherent detectors at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. In fact, conventional superconducting SIS mixers with Nb/AlOx/Nb junction and Nb/SiO2/Nb tuning circuit have shown good performances with the noise temperature reaching as low as three times the quantum limit below 0.7THz, which is the gap frequency of Nb-based SIS junctions. However, due to the large loss in Nb thin-film superconducting microstrip lines, the noise performance of Nb SIS mixers deteriorates significantly above 0.7THz. With a gap frequency double that of Nb-based SIS junctions, NbN-based SIS junctions are of particular interest for the development of heterodyne mixers in the terahertz region. Considering the bandwidth and output power of local-oscillator (LO) signal sources are quite limited around 1THz, we firstly develop a waveguide NbN-based SIS mixer at 0.5THz. Three types of SIS junctions, i.e., long junction, parallel-connected tunnel junction (PCTJ) and distributed junction array (DJ) are investigated. They are all comprised of NbN-AlN-NbN tri-layer fabricated on an MgO substrate and have the same current density (Jc) of 10kA/cm2. In this paper, we describe their design, fabrication and preliminary experimental results.
SIS junctions are unique devices combining two fundamental phenomena, the superconducting pair tunneling (Josephson effect) and the quasiparticle tunneling (Giaver effect). These allow for use the same type of SIS junction (e.g. Nb-AlO/sub x/-Nb) either in the quasiparticle mode for the quantum-noise limited detection or in the Josephson mode for generating and converting high frequency signals, for unique magnetic sensors (SQUIDs) and for digital devices. This is why studies in the field of SIS junction integration are of great importance for a variety of lightweight and low power consuming electronic applications. The present paper is a review of the 10-year development of analogue of analogue superconducting integrated circuits with SIS junctions led by IREE RAS team.