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PERFECTLY MATCHED SIS ARRAYS FOR MM WAVES RE

S. V. Shitov, V. P. Koshelets, Sergey Kovtonyuk, Andrey M. Baryshev

Published Jan 1, 1993• 0 citations
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Abstract

Parallel connected for dc and IF, but in series for rf current SIS junction arrays are under investigation since 1982. Novel conception of the improved matching for both input and output mixer ports have been developed and confirmed successfully with experimental receivers in 40-180 GHz frequency range. Parallel and parallel-series combinations integrated up to 11 Nb-AlOx-Nb type SIS junctions have been tested in full height waveguide mixers. The receivers' noise temperatures Tr(DSB) I50K have been achieved in the laboratory tests across frequency range 40-150GHz. The Tr as low as 35K have been carefully measured at 145GHz. The parallel biased SIS arrays for integrated on a chip SIS receiver have been designed and tested successfully. The integrated receiver noise temperature as low as 85K was achieved at 140GHz. New SIS array design for mixer in frequency range 500-1000 GHz is presented.

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IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques•Apr 1, 1993•14 citations
Parallel connected for dc and IF, but in series for rf current SIS junction arrays are under investigation since 1982. Novel conception of the improved matching for both input and output mixer ports have been developed and confirmed successfully with experimental receivers in 40-180 GHz frequency range. Parallel and parallel-series combinations integrated up to 11 Nb-AlOx-Nb type SIS junctions have been tested in full height waveguide mixers. The receivers' noise temperatures Tr(DSB) I50K have been achieved in the laboratory tests across frequency range 40-150GHz. The Tr as low as 35K have been carefully measured at 145GHz. The parallel biased SIS arrays for integrated on a chip SIS receiver have been designed and tested successfully. The integrated receiver noise temperature as low as 85K was achieved at 140GHz. New SIS array design for mixer in frequency range 500-1000 GHz is presented.
The possibility of overcoming the main drawbacks of the traditional series arrays by using a parallel connection of SIS junctions for DC and IF current has been experimentally demonstrated in full height 70-116 GHz waveguide mixers. This new array concept has been successfully developed to: (i) avoid the influence of junction non-uniformity in the array; (ii) provide optimal matching at both RF input and IF output even in the case of high gain, and (iii) tune out junction capacitance without any DC blocks. The experimentally tested arrays contain 10 or 11 trilayer 2.5 mu m 2 Nb-AlO x -Nb junctions. Best values of T r (DSB) as low as 20+or-2 K have been measured at the receiver room temperature horn in the 104-108 GHz LO range with a 4 GHz IF and at a mixer ambient temperature of 4.5-5.5 K. An SSB mixer noise temperature as low as 6+or-3 K was estimated. This value is very close to the quantum noise limit hf/k approximately=5 K.
The possibility of overcoming the main drawbacks of the traditional series arrays by parallel connection of the SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) junctions for DC and IF are demonstrated experimentally. The proposed mixing elements avoid the influence of the junction nonuniformity in the array, provide the optimal matching on both RF input and IF output, and tune out junction capacitance. Experimentally tested arrays contained up to eight high-quality Nb-AlO/sub x/-Nb junctions with R/sub n/=20-70 Omega at junction area 8/14 mu m/sup 2/. The best values of T/sub r/ (SSB) were measured to as low as 5 K on the mixer cold input flange in the 45-55-GHz bandwidth at an ambient temperature of 4.2 K. A mixer gain of up to 10 dB was obtained. The gain values were limited by bias stability at very high or even negative array output impedance. An experimental receiver noise temperature (SSB) of less than 20 K has been achieved.
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.>
We present the design and preliminary experimental results of superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixers for Atacama large millimeter array (ALMA) band 10 (780-950GHz) receivers. To achieve wide frequency coverage as well as low noise temperature, we integrated high current density (10 kA/cm2) and small-sized (one micrometer in diameter) Nb/AlOx/Nb SIS junctions with a tuning microstrip line using NbTiN ground plane and Al wiring layers. High quality NbTiN films with Tc reaching 14.5 K and Al films with residual resistivity ratio as large as 15 have been achieved. To minimize the waveguide transmission loss and facilitate the fabrication of mixer block, a full height waveguide was adopted. The waveguide probe was optimized to achieve low input impedance in the frequency range of 780-950 GHz while adopting a backshort cavity of zero depth. Preliminary RF testing with a Nb/Al microstrip tuning circuit demonstrated a DSB receiver noise temperature about 400 K at 832.5 GHz, which promises the accommodation of receiver performance in ALMA specification with low loss NbTiN/Al microstrip lines.
The authors have made a detailed study of the gain and noise of a SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) heterodyne receiver at 345 GHz. An array of two Nb-Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/-Nb SIS junctions in series are used as the mixing element. The array is operated in a waveguide mount with a backshort and an E-plane tuner. The best receiver noise temperature achieved is 140 K DSB (double sideband). The embedding impedances were determined by fitting theory to the measured pumped curves. High-quality fits were obtained, providing the first detailed test of the Tucker-theory at frequencies above 300 GHz. The impedances found by this method are in very good agreement with impedances measured in a scale model at 3.3 GHz. From these embedding impedances, the gain and noise of the mixer were calculated over a full bias range using the Tucker theory in the three-port low-IF approximation. The measured dependence of mixer gain and noise on bias voltage, pump power and embedding impedance is in good agreement with theory. However the absolute values show discrepancies that appear to be independent of the bias parameters of the mixer.>