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IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

Development of 460 GHz and Dual Polarization SIS Mixers for the Submillimeter Array

Chao-Te Li, Kuan‐Yu Liu, Wei-Chun Lu, Chuang-Ping Chiu, Tse-Jun Chen, Chong‐Wen Chen, Yung-Chin Chang, Ming-Jye Wang, Sheng‐Cai Shi

Published Jan 21, 2011• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A heterodyne receiver incorporating superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixers has been designed to cover the frequency range from 400 to 520 GHz of the Submillimeter Array (SMA). Various tuning circuits have been employed to resonate out the geometric capacitance of the junction and provide impedance matching to the waveguide probe. Our measurements indicated that a receiver noise temperature of around 90 K, with the contributions from the input noise and intermediate frequency (IF) noise estimated to be around 60 K and 10 K, respectively. SIS mixers integrated with planar orthomode transducers (OMT) have also been designed at 345 GHz for dual polarization detections, and results from the 3-dimensional (3-D) electromagnetic (EM) simulations are presented.

DOI
10.1109/tasc.2010.2098835

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A heterodyne receiver incorporating superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixers has been designed to cover the frequency range from 400 to 520 GHz of the Submillimeter Array (SMA). Various tuning circuits have been employed to resonate out the geometric capacitance of the junction and provide impedance matching to the waveguide probe. Our measurements indicated that a receiver noise temperature of around 90 K, with the contributions from the input noise and intermediate frequency (IF) noise estimated to be around 60 K and 10 K, respectively. SIS mixers integrated with planar orthomode transducers (OMT) have also been designed at 345 GHz for dual polarization detections, and results from the 3-dimensional (3-D) electromagnetic (EM) simulations are presented.
A multipixel array equipped with dual-polarization superconductor-insulator-superconductor junction mixers at approximately 350 GHz is considered to improve the efficiency and survey speed of a telescope. This study develops a compact mixer with a planar orthomode transducer as a key component. Signals coming from a circular waveguide are separated into two polarizations via orthogonal waveguide probes, and then transmitted to the junctions through the tuning circuit. To suppress resonance, metallic blocks confine the RF signals within the circular waveguide, and a 2-μm-thick silicon nitride membrane, on which all devices were implemented, was suspended across the circular waveguide. The orthomode transducer, simulated with a three-dimensional electromagnetic simulator, has a cross-polarization of less than -20 dB between 306 and 367 GHz. The IF circuit consists of a low pass filter, coplanar waveguides, and a transition to coaxial. The return loss of the IF circuit is less than -20 dB up to 16 GHz from both simulations and measurements. The superconductor-insulator-superconductor junction mixers have been fabricated with quality factor (Rsg/Rn) of 8 and the double-side-band receiver noise temperatureTrxis approximately 120 K between 320 and 360 GHz.
The most sensitive heterodyne receivers used formillimeter wave and submillimeter wave radioastronomyemploy superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS)tunnel junctions as the nonlinear mixing element. Goodperformance has recently been reported for SIS junctionsused in planar mixer circuits and waveguide mixers fromabout 300 GHz to 500 GHz. We have developed asubmillimeter wave SIS heterodyne receiver for observingimportant rotational transitions of molecules in theinterstellar medium near 550 GHz and 630 GHz. Thisreceiver is based on a waveguide mixer with an adjustablebackshort and E-plane tuner [1]. The mixer uses a highcurrent density, 0.25 gm2 Nb-A1Ox-Nb tunnel junctiondefined by electron beam lithography [2]. The capacitanceof the junction is compensated with an integrated RFsuperconductive microstrip tuning circuit. The receiverperformance has been measured over the frequency range460 GHz to 640 GHz. DSB receiver noise temperatures aslow as 200 ± 17 K at 540 GHz and 362 ± 33 K at626 GHz have been obtained. In addition, negativedifferential resistance has been observed in the DC I-Vcurve at frequencies around 491 GHz. These results indicatethat the superconductive Nb microstrip transmission linesused in the tuning circuits are low-loss and perform well upto at least 90% of the superconductor energy gap frequency.
A heterodyne receiver using an SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) waveguide mixer with two mechanical tuners has been built and characterized over the frequency range of 460 GHz to 630 GHz. This receiver is designed for radioastronomy applications. The mixer uses high-current-density, 0.25- mu m/sup 2/, Nb/AlO/sub x//Nb SIS tunnel junctions with integrated superconductive RF circuits to tune the junction capacitance. A DSB (double sideband) receiver noise temperature as low as 200+or-17 K has been obtained at 540 GHz. In addition, negative differential resistance has been observed in the DC I-V (current-voltage) curve at 487-491 GHz.>
A heterodyne mixer with a micromachined horn antenna and a superconductor -insulator-superconductor (SIS) tunnel junction as mixing element is tested in the W-band (75-115 GHz) frequency range. Micromachined integrated horn antennas consist of a dipole antenna suspended on a thin Si3N4 dielectric membrane inside a pyramidal cavity etched in silicon. The mixer performance is optimized by using a backing plane behind the dipole antenna to tune out the capacitance of the tunnel junction. The lowest receiver noise temperature of 30+/-3 K without any correction) is measured at 106 GHz with a 3-dB bandwidth of 8 GHz. This sensitivity is comparable to the state-of-the-art waveguide and quasi-optical SIS receivers, showing the potential use of micromachined horn antennas in imaging arrays.
The authors have tested the performance of planar SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) mixers with log-periodic antennas at near millimeter and submillimeter wave frequencies from 90 to 360 GHz. The large omega R/sub N/C product ( approximately 10 at 90 GHz) of the Nb/NbO/sub x//Pb-In-Au junctions requires an integrated inductive tuning element to resonate the junction capacitance at the operating frequencies. Two types of integrated tuning element were used which were designed with the aid of measurements using a Fourier transform spectrometer. Preliminary results indicate that the tuning elements can give very good mixer performance up to at least 200 GHz. An inductive wire in parallel with a 5-junction array gives a minimum mixer noise temperature of 115 K (DSB) at 90 GHz with a FWHM (full width at half maximum) bandwidth of 8 GHz. An open-ended microstrip stub in parallel with a single junction gives minimum mixer noise temperatures at 150 and 200 K (DSB) near 90 and 180 GHz with FWHM bandwidths of 4 and 3 GHz, respectively. The relatively high mixer noise temperatures compared to those of waveguide SIS mixers in a similar frequency range are attributed mainly to the losses in the optical system.>
Large-format heterodyne focal plane arrays require highly integrated receiver architectures while maintaining low noise and sufficient sideband rejection, which remains challenging for superconducting SIS mixers at millimeter wavelengths. In this work, we demonstrate, for the first time, a monolithic dual-polarization sideband-separating superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixer operating at 2 mm wavelengths (125-163 GHz) on a silicon-on-insulator substrate. The integrated SIS mixer achieves a sideband rejection ratio exceeding 10 dB over the 4-8 GHz intermediate-frequency (IF) band across most of the radio-frequency (RF) range, with a minimum single-sideband (SSB) receiver noise temperature as low as approximately 60 K. As a key building block of the hybrid planar integration (HPI) architecture, this result verifies the feasibility of highly integrated large-format heterodyne focal plane arrays, providing a practical path toward substantially expanding the field of view of millimeter and submillimeter-wave radio telescopes.