International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves (IRMMW-THz)

A 500-GHz Superconducting SIS Receiver for The Portable Submillimeter Telescope

Shijie Huang, J. Li, J. Xu, A.Q. Cao, S.H. Chen, Jing Huang, Zhaohui Lin, S. C. Shi, Ji Yang

Published Sep 1, 2006• 2 citations

Abstract

We have developed a 500-GHz superconducting SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) receiver for the Portable Submillimeter Telescope (POST), which, with an aperture of 30 cm, is a submillimeter-wave telescope dedicated mainly to explore the large-scale distribution of neutral interstellar gas along the galactic plane. The 500-GHz SIS receiver is developed on the basis of the parallel-connected twin junction tuning circuitry and is designed to be compact and of low power consumption to fulfill the requirement of portability. Performance of the superconducting receiver system and results from astronomical observation was presented.

DOI: 10.1109/icimw.2006.368386

Related papers

A compact 500GHz SIS receiver system for POST

Qijun Yao, Xuesong Cao, Xu-Guo Zhang +3 more

We introduced here a compact 500 GHz SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) heterodyne receiver system developed for POST (portable submillimeter telescope). The system is proved to have a small volume to be integrated with the small Dewar, which is cooled by a compact close-cycled 100 mW@ 4 K cryo-cooler. Test results shows that a good LO coupling and low signal loss is achieved with a less than 250 K overall receiver noise at 500 GHz waveband.

Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference (APMC)Dec 1, 20094 citations

Superconducting detectors for submillimeter-wave astronomy

Eric E. Bloemhof

Sensitive heterodyne receivers are being built at ever higher frequencies with superconducting (SIS) junctions as the first mixer. These devices have extremely sharp non-linearities in their current-voltage characteristics as a result of quantum-mechanical tunneling of electrons across thin insulating barriers. The low energy scale set by the magnitude of the superconducting energy gap implies very low local oscillator power requirements for heterodyne operation. Some general system design considerations for astrophysical receivers are reviewed. These principles are illustrated by discussing two specific applications: a 230 GHz SIS receiver recently installed as a facility instrument at the Swedish-ESO submillimeter telescope in Chile, and the broader receiver requirements of the 6-antenna submillimeter array (SMA), an interferometer now being designed at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The SMA will require receivers at frequencies as high as 820 GHz, and will place some unique demands on detector performance.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIEJul 15, 19930 citations

A compact 500GHz SIS receiver developed for space observations

D. Liu, Qi Yao, J. Li +1 more

The submillimeter (submm) regime, ranging from 100 to 1000um, is an important frequency band for radio astronomy. A large number of astronomical spectral lines are located in this frequency region. Compared with ground-based observation, which is limited by the atmospheric absorption of signal, space borne platform provides perfect condition for submm observation. Here we introduce some preliminary results for a compact 500GHz SIS (Superconductor- Insulator-Superconductor) heterodyne receiver system developed for future space borne observation. Considering low power consumption requirement for space applications, we adopt a high critical temperature (Tc) NbN/AlN/NbN SIS tunnel junction for the mixer, a key component of the receiver system, which may work at relatively high temperature around 10 K. All the components, including the SIS mixer, HEMT low noise amplifier and optical lens, are assembled into a compact system. The whole system is cooled by a close-cycled 4K cryo-cooler in laboratory and test result shows a good noise performance, less than 250K at the 500GHz band. Detailed simulation and experimental results will be presented in this paper.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIEJun 9, 20110 citations

Submillimeter mixers based on superconductive parallel junction arrays

Faouzi M. Boussaha, Morvan C. Salez, Y. Delorme +4 more

Observation and analysis of submillimeter-wave radiation (300GHz-3THz) in astronomy and atmospheric sciences requires increasingly performant receivers. The most sensitive receivers working in this range of electromagnetic spectrum use superconductor-insolator-superconductor (SIS) junctions. In order to increase the bandwidth and the sensitivity, we are developing a quantum-noise limited heterodyne receiver based on several parallel SIS junctions with broad (larger than 30%) fixed tuned bandwidth. These circuits can be viewed as passband filters which have been optimized by varying the spacings between junctions. We have designed such 5-junction arrays for operation in the range 480-640 GHz. Fabrication and heterodyne characterization of these devices has been done. The 1 μm2 junctions current density ranges from 4 to 13 kA/cm2, using optical lithography and Nb/Al2Nb5/Nb trilayer sputtering technology. The fabrication process and yield are presented in this paper, along with measured performances

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIEApr 25, 20031 citation

A Very Wide Bandwidth SIS Heterodyne Receiver Design for Millimeter and Submillimeter Astronomy

F. Rice

This text describes in some detail the design and operational history of an instrument used as the front-end receiver for a fast, broadband, high-resolution spectrometer for the 1.3 millimeter wavelength atmospheric window. Using only a single superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) tunnel junction as its heterodyne detector, the receiver’s novel design achieved then unprecedented RF and IF bandwidths and incorporated several innovations which have since been widely adopted within the millimeter and submillimeter wave research communities. Although intended as a relatively simple technology demonstrator and starting point for more refined and sophisticated designs, the receiver turned out to be a useful astronomical instrument in its own right, and it was deployed as a de facto facility instrument for several years at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory. Also described are the author’s contributions to another important aid to research and design efforts: the SuperMix software library for the analysis and optimization of high-frequency circuitry, especially developed to aid in the design of systems involving SIS and other superconducting elements. Finally, the text may serve as a useful introduction to the theory behind and methodology for modeling and design of SIS heterodyne mixers.

Sep 18, 20200 citations

Design and Development of SIS Mixers for ALMA Band 8

Wenlei Shan, Takashi Noguchi, S. C. Shi +1 more

In this paper, we report on the design and experimental results of a fix-tuned Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) mixer for Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) band 8 (385-500 GHz) receivers. Nb-based SIS junctions of a current density of 10 kA/cm/sup 2/ and one micrometer size (fabricated with a two-step lift-off process) are employed to accomplish the ALMA receiver specification, which requires wide frequency coverage as well as low noise temperature. Parallel-connected twin junctions (PCTJ) are designed to resonate at the band center to tune out the junction geometric capacitance. A waveguide-microstrip probe is optimized to have nearly frequency-independent impedance at the probe's feed point, thereby making it much easier to match the low-impedance PCTJ over a wide frequency band. In addition, a superconducting magnet fixed onto the compact mixer block to provide efficient magnetic field coupling is designed. The SIS mixer demonstrates a minimum double-sideband receiver noise temperature of 108 K at the band center and temperatures of less than 167 K over the whole band (for an intermediate-frequency range of 4-8 GHz).

IEEE Transactions on Applied SuperconductivityJun 1, 200527 citations