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IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

Nb-based SIS mixer in the 800 GHz band

Takashi Noguchi, Hiroyuki Maezawa, Sheng‐Cai Shi, Satoshi Yamamoto

Published Mar 1, 2001• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have built a waveguide SIS mixer with Nb-based parallel-connected twin junctions at 800 GHz which is above the gap frequency of Nb (690 GHz). Heterodyne mixing was performed at 810 GHz and a receiver noise temperature of 580 K (DSB), which includes noise contributions due to a vacuum window and a beam splitter, was achieved using Nb/AlO/sub x//Nb junctions with Nb striplines. The performance of this mixer is quite good and it is shown that efficient mixing in Nb-based SIS junctions is still possible above the gap frequency, SIS mixers with Al striplines have also been fabricated and good DC I-V characteristics have been observed. Heterodyne measurements of these mixers are now under preparation.

DOI
10.1109/77.919311

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•Mar 1, 1996•2 citations
We have built a waveguide SIS mixer with Nb-based parallel-connected twin junctions at 800 GHz which is above the gap frequency of Nb (690 GHz). Heterodyne mixing was performed at 810 GHz and a receiver noise temperature of 580 K (DSB), which includes noise contributions due to a vacuum window and a beam splitter, was achieved using Nb/AlO/sub x//Nb junctions with Nb striplines. The performance of this mixer is quite good and it is shown that efficient mixing in Nb-based SIS junctions is still possible above the gap frequency, SIS mixers with Al striplines have also been fabricated and good DC I-V characteristics have been observed. Heterodyne measurements of these mixers are now under preparation.
The noise and gain of a heterodyne waveguide mixer using Nb/Al/sub 2/O/sub 3//Nb superconducting tunnel junctions were measured in the 400-500-GHz frequency range. Three different arrays of two junctions in series are analyzed. The minimum receiver noise temperature is 120 K DSB at 480 GHz, measured with an array having integrated tuning stubs. The authors compare data of the pumped I-V curves with the Werthammer-Tucker theory and demonstrate an excellent agreement at frequencies up to 500 GHz. For an array without integrated tuning stubs. a mixer noise temperature of 90+or-30 K and a DSB mixer gain of -12.5+or-0.6 dB were measured. A comparison of the measured gain versus bias voltage with the quantum theory of mixing shows good qualitative agreement, indicating the applicability of this theory to Nb tunnel junctions up to 500 GHz. The noise temperature of an array with a lower gap voltage is 220 K at 495 GHz. This frequency is 85% of the reduced gap frequency, indicating that Nb superconductor insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixers can be used up at least the gap frequency of 680 GHz.>
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.>
The noise and gain of a heterodyne waveguide mixer employing Nb/Al2O3/Nb superconducting tunnel junctions with an on-chip integrated tuning element are measured and analyzed at 680–750 GHz and at 840 GHz. The lowest receiver noise temperatures are 400 K (double side band) at 720 GHz and 1500 K (3000 K including the beam splitter loss) at 840 GHz. We compare data of the pumped I–V curves with the quantum theory of mixing and demonstrate good agreement at frequencies well above the gap frequency.
We have designed, fabricated, and tested superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixers based on Nb/AlN/NbN twin tunnel junctions for waveguide receivers operating in a frequency range of 790-950 GHz. Electromagnetic simulations and measurement results of the mixer performance are presented. The junctions have a high gap voltage of 3.15 mV and a high current density of about 30 kA/cm2, providing a wide receiver band, which was confirmed by Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) and noise temperature measurements. The corrected receiver noise temperature varies from 240 K at low frequencies to 550 K at the high end of the band. The influence of the SIS junction heating on its characteristics has been studied and compared to another similar high current density technologies. The heating does not have a critical impact on the mixer performance.
There are great interests in developing Nb SIS mixers because of the extremely low noise temperatures and because of the need of low local oscillator (LO) power. Several groups have demonstrated experimentally that Nb SIS mixers with integrated tuning elements can perform near the quantum noise limit up to the Nb gap frequency (/spl sim/700 GHz). Beyond this frequency, a major loss will take place in the tuning elements, which are Nb-SiO/sub 2/-Nb micro-striplines, because the incoming photons can break the Cooper-pairs, thus increasing the surface resistance of the Nb strips. Applying highly conductive Al instead of Nb for a stripline can reduce the loss since the former has a lower surface resistance at higher frequencies. In this work, we report the fabrication of waveguide Nb SIS mixers with Al striplines and heterodyne measurement results around 1 THz.
We report on low-noise heterodyne mixing with NbN/A1N/NbN tunnel junctions in the submillimeter-wave region for the first time. The receiver consists of the quasi-optical NbN SIS mixer with an integrated tuning circuit in which a radial short stub tuner is incorporated to resonate out the junction capacitance for RF matching and a balanced IF circuit for broadband IF matching. The prepared NbN SIS junction has a current density of 20 kA/cm 2 and is about 1 I1111 in diameter, supplying a small coC JRN product (o)CJRN = 3 at 300 GHz). The junctions showed good dc I-V characteristics, excellent submillimeter-wave responses and sensitive heterodyne mixing responses. From 254 to 350 GHz the average receiver noise temperature measured using by the standard Y-factor method was about 250 K (DSB) at 5 K. The lowest receiver noise temperature, 200 K (DSB), was obtained at around 303 GHz. Comparing NbN/A1N/NbN and Nb/A10x/Nb tunnel junction performance with the same tuning circuit showed that the frequency dependence of the receiver noise temperature agreed well in the two receivers. These results suggest that our well-controlled NbN SIS junctions can be used for terahertz mixer elements instead of Nb SIS junctions.