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International Conference on Microwaves, Radar & Wireless Communications

Millimeter and submillimeter wave mixers based on superconducting weak links

Janusz Konopka, I. Wolff

Published Nov 27, 2002• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Principles of operation of superconducting mixers based on: Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) tunnel junctions, Josephson junctions in high temperature superconductors and on superconducting hot-electron-microbolometers are presented. Most recent results on all types of superconducting mixers, with special attention paid to noise properties is reviewed.

DOI
10.1109/mikon.1998.738477

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Principles of operation of superconducting mixers based on: Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) tunnel junctions, Josephson junctions in high temperature superconductors and on superconducting hot-electron-microbolometers are presented. Most recent results on all types of superconducting mixers, with special attention paid to noise properties is reviewed.
This chapter discusses the high sensitivity superconducting mixers, i.e. detectors used in heterodyne receivers. Today, there are essentially two very successful concepts of superconducting mixers, or frequency down-converters, the superconductor-insulator-superconductor tunnel junction SIS mixer and the superconducting hot-electron bolometer mixer. Moving up to higher frequencies in the microwave and millimeter wave electromagnetic spectra makes it more and more difficult to retrieve a good signal-to-noise ratio with ordinary solid-state amplifiers. The driving force for using superconducting mixers is their excellent down-conversion efficiency and capability to down-convert RF signals from microwave frequencies up to the terahertz region. The main purpose of a receiver is to pick up and amplify a weak signal, which can then be accurately determined in amplitude and phase. The mixer noise temperature and conversion gain are the most important parameters for the mixing device. The Josephson junction mixer was one of the first suggested devices based on superconducting point contacts and later tunnel junctions.
Recent work done at Berkeley on the development of millimeter-wave heterodyne mixers using superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) junctions is reviewed. Two types of mixers have been developed; a conventional waveguide system using a resonant cavity and an open-structure quasioptical system using planar antennas and lenses. Using the waveguide system, the lowest mixer noise level yet obtained (within 25% of the quantum limit) at 95 GHz has been achieved. The quasioptical system has achieved a good mixer performance up to 200 GHz, and it has shown promise for use at submillimeter wavelengths.>
Theoretical research has been conducted to elucidate the basic physics behind the properties of superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) tunnel junction receiving devices. The properties of SIS mixers using nonideal junctions and finite LO power, were determined by analytic expansion of the equations of the quantum theory of mixing, and also by computer simulations of SIS receivers over the entire range of experimental parameters. The result is a new coherent and intuitive picture of SIS mixer behavior. Many of the outstanding mysteries and questions about SIS receivers are resolved, and this contributes greatly to the design and interpretation of SIS mixer experiments. Other calculations show how to achieve sub-quantum noise temperatures in the phase sensitive SIS mixer, an important step towards realization of ultra-low- noise detectors. A simplified model casts doubt on the superlative experimental results reported for the rf-series dc-parallel biased array SIS mixer. Superconductivity; SIS mixer; Submillimeter-wave detection.
Superconducting detectors will play an increasingly significant role in astrophysics, especially at millimeter through far-IR wavelengths, where the scientific opportunities include key problems in astronomy and cosmology. Superconducting detectors offer many benefits: outstanding sensitivity, lithographic fabrication, and large array sizes, especially through the recent development of multiplexing techniques. This paper describes the scientific opportunities, the basic physics of these devices, the techniques for radiation coupling, and reviews the recent progress in direct detectors, such as transition-edge bolometers, and the work on tunnel junction (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) and hot-electron mixers.
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/AIO(x)/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.
The review presents a theoretical framework for understanding submillimeter detection using an optical photodiode theory. Both gain and noise in the superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixer are described in terms of mixing on a photodiode. The role of impedance matching in the proper design of an SIS mixer is described. A variety of methods for achieving good impedance match at submillimeter frequencies are presented. The state of the submillimeter SIS mixer art as practiced in a variety of laboratories is described and summarized.>