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Michael J. Burns

Published Jan 1, 1997• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Superconducting hot-electron bolometers (HEB) represent a promising candidate for heterodyne mixing at fre- quencies exceeding 1 Twz. M, WEB mixers offer performance competitive with tunnel junctions without the frequency limit imposed by the superconducting energy gap. Afthough the performance of YBazCu&-s HEB mixers is not projected to be superior to that of Nb devices, which operate at low tempera- tures, they introduce the possibility of sensitive, low power het- erodyne detectors operating at temperatures approaching 90 K for appl~ca~ions requiring portability and closed-cycle refrig- eration. We report on the fabrication and characterization, , of high-T, mixers based on ultra-thin (GO nm) YBa2Cu30~ films patterned to micrometer dimensions and incorporated into 2.5 TNZ planar mixer circuits.

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Superconducting hot-electron bolometers (HEB) represent a promising candidate for heterodyne mixing at frequencies exceeding 1 THz. Nb HEB mixers offer performance competitive with tunnel junctions without the frequency limit imposed by the superconducting energy gap. Although the performance of YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7-/spl delta// HEB mixers is not projected to be superior to that of Nb devices, which operate at low temperatures, they introduce the possibility of sensitive, low power heterodyne detectors operating at temperatures approaching 90 K for applications requiring portability and closed-cycle refrigeration. We report on the fabrication and characterization, both DC and RF, of high-T/sub c/ mixers based on ultra-thin (/spl les/20 nm) YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7-/spl delta// films patterned to micrometer dimensions and incorporated into 2.5 THz planar mixer circuits.

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International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves (IRMMW-THz)•Aug 1, 2015•0 citations
Superconducting hot-electron bolometers (HEB) represent a promising candidate for heterodyne mixing at fre- quencies exceeding 1 Twz. M, WEB mixers offer performance competitive with tunnel junctions without the frequency limit imposed by the superconducting energy gap. Afthough the performance of YBazCu&-s HEB mixers is not projected to be superior to that of Nb devices, which operate at low tempera- tures, they introduce the possibility of sensitive, low power het- erodyne detectors operating at temperatures approaching 90 K for applcaions requiring portability and closed-cycle refrig- eration. We report on the fabrication and characterization, , of high-T, mixers based on ultra-thin (GO nm) YBa2Cu30~ films patterned to micrometer dimensions and incorporated into 2.5 TNZ planar mixer circuits.
Superconducting hot-electron bolometers (HEB) represent a promising candidate for heterodyne mixing at frequencies exceeding 1 THz. Nb HEB mixers offer performance competitive with tunnel junctions without the frequency limit imposed by the superconducting energy gap. Although the performance of YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7-/spl delta// HEB mixers is not projected to be superior to that of Nb devices, which operate at low temperatures, they introduce the possibility of sensitive, low power heterodyne detectors operating at temperatures approaching 90 K for applications requiring portability and closed-cycle refrigeration. We report on the fabrication and characterization, both DC and RF, of high-T/sub c/ mixers based on ultra-thin (/spl les/20 nm) YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7-/spl delta// films patterned to micrometer dimensions and incorporated into 2.5 THz planar mixer circuits.
Superconducting hot-electron bolometers are the most promising candidate for heterodyne mixers at frequencies above 1 THz. These devices operate by heating of electrons in the superconductor, and thus have no energy gap related frequency limitation, such as exists in SIS mixers, for example. Nb hot-electron bolometric mixers have recently demonstrated superior performance to competing Schottky mixers at frequencies above 1 THz, but of course must be operated at liquid helium temperatures. YBa 2Cu307_,5 hot-electron bolometric mixers introduce the possibility of sensitive, low power heterodyne detectors operating at temperatures approaching 90 K for high-background applications, such as earth observing missions. We describe the fabrication of high-T, devices based on ultrathin (<20 nm) YBa2Cu307_ 5 films for use as 2.5 THz mixers.
Superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers are the most sensitive heterodyne detectors at frequencies beyond 1 THz, and are used for many astronomical observations. HEB, consisting of a narrow and short superconducting thin film patch connected to an antenna via contact pads, is brought into a highly sensitive operating regime by applying a DC current and a certain amount of local-oscillator power. Potentially, superconducting HEB mixers are capable of exhibiting high sensitivity for frequencies up to several tens of THz, as their output noise and conversion gain are nearly frequency independent according to the mixing mechanism. Moreover, the understanding of mixing mechanism has evolved over time from lumped-element model to distributed hot-spot model. In this review, we provide an overview of theoretical and experimental studies on HEBs and their applications, especially in astronomical observations on ground, airborne and space telescopes.
Recently a novel superconductive hot-electron micro-bolometer has been proposed which is both fast and sensitive (D. E. Prober, Appl. Phys. Lett. 62, 2119, 1993). This device has several important properties which make it useful as a heterodyne sensor for radioastronomy applications at frequencies above 1 THz. The thermal response time of the device is fast enough, several 10's of picoseconds, to allow for IF's of several GHz. This bolometer mixer should operate well up to at least 10 THz. There is no energy gap limitation as in an SIS mixer, since the mixing process relies on heating of the electron gas. In fact, rf power is absorbed more uniformly above the gap frequency. The mixer noise should be near quantum-limited, and the local oscillator (LO) power requirement is very low: / 10 nW for a Nb device. One of the unique features of this device is that it employs rapid electron diffusion into a normal metal, rather than phonon emission, as the thermal conductance that cools the heated electrons. In order for diffusion to dominate over phonon emission, the device must be short, less than 0.5.
Hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers are a complex multi-layer thin film structure containing an ultra-thin superconducting film of NbN as a detecting element and a thick normal metal layer as an antenna structure. We have optimized the fabrication process starting with ultra-thin NbN films, Au films for antenna structures and their patterning using e-beam lithography and lift-off. The coupling between normal conducting antenna and NbN detector has been improved by introducing an intermediate NbN film to reduce proximity suppression of superconductivity in the detecting element. A critical temperature of about 9.5 K is reached for NbN films with a thickness between 5 nm and 6 nm. A twofold increase of the film thickness increases the critical temperature to 12 K. We have shown that a 20 nm thick buffer layer of NbN under a much thicker Au layer is sufficient to ensure a critical temperature of the bi-layer of 9 K. This value is close to the critical temperature of 5.5 nm thick HEB devices. The noise temperature of HEB mixer made using improved technology is about 800 K and was measured in a liquid cryogen free system with a quantum cascade laser as 2.5 THz local oscillator.
We analyze the pathways for achieving the THz hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers using high-TCsuperconductors. Requirements to the material in order to obtain large (up to 10 GHz) intermediate frequency bandwidth as well as recent results on MgB2HEB mixer devices are discussed. Based on a thermal model of the energy relaxation in a thin film, we explain the difference between the mixing behaviors in previously studied HEB materials. We also introduce the concept of the HEB mixer based on the low electron density MBE-grown quasi-2DEG LaCuO/LaSrCuO superconductors with tunable critical temperature.