Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

Investigation of the Performance of NbN Superconducting HEB Mixers of Different Critical Temperatures

Wei Miao, Wen Zhang, Kangmin Zhou, H. Gao, Kai Zhang, Wenying Duan, Qi Yao, S. C. Shi, Y. Delorme, R. Lefèvre

Published Nov 21, 2016• 8 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the critical temperature dependence of the performance of niobium nitride superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers. The input noise temperature and intermediate frequency (IF) noise bandwidth of superconducting HEB mixers of different critical temperatures Tc(between 6 and 12 K) are simulated with a hot spot model. Simulation results show that the mixer input noise temperature is the lowest at Tcapproximately equal to 7-9.5 K and the IF noise bandwidth increases with Tc. We also measure three superconducting HEB mixers of different critical temperatures (i.e., 7.5, 8.8, and 10.3 K) at 0.85 and 1.3 THz. An agreement between measurement and prediction is observed.

DOI
10.1109/tasc.2016.2630040

Related papers

Characterization of Response Time of Superconducting NbN Hot Electron Bolometer Mixers

GuoAo Xie, Ruixuan Tang, Zhenlin Luo +6 more

Response time of a Superconducting Hot Electron Bolometer (HEB) mixers is a critical parameter, and significantly affects the intermediate frequency (IF) gain bandwidth. In this study, we investigated the effects of temperature and bias voltage on the response time. Response time of superconducting niobium nitride (NbN) HEB mixers were measured by using the pumpprobe technique at temperatures of 5 K, 7 K, and 9 K with different bias voltages. The measured response time ranged from 50 to 80 ps and decreased with increasing temperature and bias voltage. This approach provides a more comprehensive understanding of the thermal transport mechanisms in superconducting HEB mixers, which can ultimately lead to improved performance and properties of the HEB mixers.

International Conference on Electronics Technology (ICET)•May 17, 2025•0 citations

Intrinsic Mixing Behavior of Superconducting NbTiN HEB Mixer Based on in-situ Technique

Ling Jiang, T. Shiino, Sukeyasu Steven Yamamoto +1 more

In this paper, we present the intrinsic mixing behavior of superconducting niobium titanium nitride hot electron bolometer mixer based on in-situ technique. We make detailed comparison between simulated and measured performance of the HEB mixers at 0.8 and 1.5 THz. A distributed hot spot model which is based on solving a heat balance equation is employed to characterize current-voltage curve, electron and phonon temperature distribution along superconducting microbridge, intermediate frequency gain bandwidth and intrinsic noise temperature of the mixers. The simulated intermediate frequency gain bandwidth decreases with the increase of microbridge length, which is in good agreement with measured results. For the microbridge with 0.15 µm in length, the IF gain bandwidth is simulated to be 2.6 GHz at 0.8 and 1.5 THz. When the microbridge length is increased to 0.3 µm, the calculated IF gain bandwidth is 1.8 GHz. The simulated results demonstrate the IF gain bandwidth is only related with microbridge length, independent of RF frequency. It's very useful to find the critical parameters which mainly affects the mixer noise temperature and IF gain bandwidth. In this paper we will give the critical factors as the reference for fabrication and measurement of HEB mixers. We have found that when the ratio of length to width of the microbridge is set to be around 0.15, the simulated and measured mixer noise temperature show the lowest value. More details will be presented in the paper.

•Jan 1, 2012•0 citations

Effect of NbN-Au contact pads on the performance of a superconducting NbN hot electron bolometer mixer

Xiaohui Guo, Wen Zhang, W. Miao +2 more

In this paper we study the effect of NbN-Au contact pads on the performance of a superconducting NbN hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer. The receiver noise temperature (Trec) and IF noise bandwidth (BN) at a LO frequency of 1.3 THz are measured at different bath temperatures between 3.3 K and 8.5 K. The measured Trec and BN of the superconducting HEB mixer are nearly constant for Tbath/Tc less than 0.7, and increase quickly with the further increase of Tbath. Measurement results demonstrate that the NbN-Au contact pads in superconducting state nearly have no influence on Trec and Bn, but the contact pads in resistive state make Trec and BN increase quickly with Tbath, indicated by the slope change of current-voltage curves and IF output power peak.

IEEE International Workshop on Electromagnetics: Applications and Student Innovation Competition•May 1, 2016•0 citations

Superconducting NbN hot electron bolometer mixer at terahertz

Biaobing Jin, Jianhui Chen, Min Liang +3 more

Superconducting niobium nitride (NbN) hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers at terahertz (THz) have been designed, fabricated and measured for applications in astronomy and cosmology. The NbN HEB mixer consists of a planar antenna and an NbN bridge connecting across the antenna's inner terminals on high-resistivity Si substrates. Double sideband (DSB) receiver noise temperatures of 698 K at 0.65 THz, 904 K at 1.6 THz, 1026 K at 2.5 THz and 1386 K at 3.1 THz have been obtained at 4.2 K without corrections and using changeable input local oscillation (LO) power to eliminate the affects of direct detection and instability of the LO power. The excess quantum noise factor beta of about 4 has been estimated using a quantum noise model.

International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves (IRMMW-THz)•Sep 1, 2009•0 citations

Performance Investigation of a Quasi-Optical NbN HEB Mixer at Submillimeter Wavelength

Wei Miao, Y. Delorme, A. Féret +8 more

In this paper, the performance of a quasi-optical phonon-cooled NbN superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer is thoroughly investigated. The variation of the receiver noise temperature and the conversion gain around 600 GHz with respect to DC bias voltage and LO pumping level has been measured. The lowest receiver noise temperature is 750 K and reduced to about 250 K after correcting the quasi-optical losses before the HEB mixer. We compared the measured results with the predictions according to one dimensional distributed hot spot model. A reasonable match between theoretical model and experiment is observed. In addition, the direct response of the HEB mixer (integrated with a log-periodic spiral antenna) is measured by using Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS). The stability of the receiver is also investigated by means of Allan variance time measurements performed with an intermediate frequency (IF) bandwidth of 40 MHz.

•Apr 1, 2009•0 citations

Noise performance of quasioptical ultrathin NbN hot-electron bolometer mixer at 2.5 and 3.8 THz

Sergey V. Antipov, Yu.B. Vachtornin, S. N. Maslennikov +5 more

To put space-based and airborne heterodyne instruments into operation at frequencies above 1 THz the superconducting NbN hot-electron bolometer (HEB) will be incorporated into heterodyne receiver as a mixer. At frequencies above 1.3 THz the sensitivity of the NbN HEB mixers outperform the one of the Schottky diodes and SIS-mixers, and the receiver noise temperature of the NbN HEB mixers increase with frequency. In this paper we present the results of the noise temperature measurements within one batch of NbN HEB mixers based on 3.5 mn thick superconducting NbN film grown on Si substrate with MgO buffer layer at the LO frequencies 2.5 THz and 3.8 THz.

International Kharkiv Symposium on Physics and Engineering of Microwaves, Millimeter and Submillimeter Waves•Oct 26, 2004•0 citations
In this paper, we investigate the critical temperature dependence of the performance of niobium nitride superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers. The input noise temperature and intermediate frequency (IF) noise bandwidth of superconducting HEB mixers of different critical temperatures Tc(between 6 and 12 K) are simulated with a hot spot model. Simulation results show that the mixer input noise temperature is the lowest at Tcapproximately equal to 7-9.5 K and the IF noise bandwidth increases with Tc. We also measure three superconducting HEB mixers of different critical temperatures (i.e., 7.5, 8.8, and 10.3 K) at 0.85 and 1.3 THz. An agreement between measurement and prediction is observed.
Response time of a Superconducting Hot Electron Bolometer (HEB) mixers is a critical parameter, and significantly affects the intermediate frequency (IF) gain bandwidth. In this study, we investigated the effects of temperature and bias voltage on the response time. Response time of superconducting niobium nitride (NbN) HEB mixers were measured by using the pumpprobe technique at temperatures of 5 K, 7 K, and 9 K with different bias voltages. The measured response time ranged from 50 to 80 ps and decreased with increasing temperature and bias voltage. This approach provides a more comprehensive understanding of the thermal transport mechanisms in superconducting HEB mixers, which can ultimately lead to improved performance and properties of the HEB mixers.
In this paper, we present the intrinsic mixing behavior of superconducting niobium titanium nitride hot electron bolometer mixer based on in-situ technique. We make detailed comparison between simulated and measured performance of the HEB mixers at 0.8 and 1.5 THz. A distributed hot spot model which is based on solving a heat balance equation is employed to characterize current-voltage curve, electron and phonon temperature distribution along superconducting microbridge, intermediate frequency gain bandwidth and intrinsic noise temperature of the mixers. The simulated intermediate frequency gain bandwidth decreases with the increase of microbridge length, which is in good agreement with measured results. For the microbridge with 0.15 µm in length, the IF gain bandwidth is simulated to be 2.6 GHz at 0.8 and 1.5 THz. When the microbridge length is increased to 0.3 µm, the calculated IF gain bandwidth is 1.8 GHz. The simulated results demonstrate the IF gain bandwidth is only related with microbridge length, independent of RF frequency. It's very useful to find the critical parameters which mainly affects the mixer noise temperature and IF gain bandwidth. In this paper we will give the critical factors as the reference for fabrication and measurement of HEB mixers. We have found that when the ratio of length to width of the microbridge is set to be around 0.15, the simulated and measured mixer noise temperature show the lowest value. More details will be presented in the paper.
In this paper we study the effect of NbN-Au contact pads on the performance of a superconducting NbN hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer. The receiver noise temperature (Trec) and IF noise bandwidth (BN) at a LO frequency of 1.3 THz are measured at different bath temperatures between 3.3 K and 8.5 K. The measured Trec and BN of the superconducting HEB mixer are nearly constant for Tbath/Tc less than 0.7, and increase quickly with the further increase of Tbath. Measurement results demonstrate that the NbN-Au contact pads in superconducting state nearly have no influence on Trec and Bn, but the contact pads in resistive state make Trec and BN increase quickly with Tbath, indicated by the slope change of current-voltage curves and IF output power peak.
Superconducting niobium nitride (NbN) hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers at terahertz (THz) have been designed, fabricated and measured for applications in astronomy and cosmology. The NbN HEB mixer consists of a planar antenna and an NbN bridge connecting across the antenna's inner terminals on high-resistivity Si substrates. Double sideband (DSB) receiver noise temperatures of 698 K at 0.65 THz, 904 K at 1.6 THz, 1026 K at 2.5 THz and 1386 K at 3.1 THz have been obtained at 4.2 K without corrections and using changeable input local oscillation (LO) power to eliminate the affects of direct detection and instability of the LO power. The excess quantum noise factor beta of about 4 has been estimated using a quantum noise model.
In this paper, the performance of a quasi-optical phonon-cooled NbN superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer is thoroughly investigated. The variation of the receiver noise temperature and the conversion gain around 600 GHz with respect to DC bias voltage and LO pumping level has been measured. The lowest receiver noise temperature is 750 K and reduced to about 250 K after correcting the quasi-optical losses before the HEB mixer. We compared the measured results with the predictions according to one dimensional distributed hot spot model. A reasonable match between theoretical model and experiment is observed. In addition, the direct response of the HEB mixer (integrated with a log-periodic spiral antenna) is measured by using Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS). The stability of the receiver is also investigated by means of Allan variance time measurements performed with an intermediate frequency (IF) bandwidth of 40 MHz.
To put space-based and airborne heterodyne instruments into operation at frequencies above 1 THz the superconducting NbN hot-electron bolometer (HEB) will be incorporated into heterodyne receiver as a mixer. At frequencies above 1.3 THz the sensitivity of the NbN HEB mixers outperform the one of the Schottky diodes and SIS-mixers, and the receiver noise temperature of the NbN HEB mixers increase with frequency. In this paper we present the results of the noise temperature measurements within one batch of NbN HEB mixers based on 3.5 mn thick superconducting NbN film grown on Si substrate with MgO buffer layer at the LO frequencies 2.5 THz and 3.8 THz.