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

UK-Europe-China Workshop on Millimetre Waves and Terahertz Technologies (UCMMT)

Preliminary design of an ALMA band 10 single-chip dual-polarisation SIS mixer

Boon-Kok Tan, G. Yassin

Published Sep 1, 2017• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present the design of an integrated dual-polarisation superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixer operating at ALMA Band 10 frequency range. All the RF components, including the orthomode transducer (OMT), the quadrature hybrid and the SIS mixer circuits, are designed as superconducting planar circuits to form a single planar mixer chip. The mixer circuits will be fabricated using standard thin film deposition technology on an ultra-thin silicon-on-insulator (Sol) substrate. In this paper, we discuss in detail the design of the various RF components that make up the complete dual-polarisation SIS mixer chip, and provide the predicted performance using rigorous electromagnetic modelling. The optimised designs of these components are then integrated in a superconducting quantum mixer circuit modelling (SuperMix) environment for assessing the performance of the heterodyne parameters of the mixer such as mixer gain and noise temperature.

DOI
10.1109/ucmmt.2017.8068508

Related papers

Design Of Dual Polarisation Sideband Separation Mixer For ALMA Band 5

Bhushan Billade

This licentiate is focused on the design and development of Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) junction mixer for ALMA Band 5, one of the ten frequency bands of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) project. ALMA Band 5 is a dual polarisation sideband separation heterodyne receiver covering radio frequencies (RF) from 163 GHz to 211 GHz, with 4-8 GHz intermediate frequency (IF). Amongst the other ALMA bands, Band 5 is the lowest frequency band, which uses all-cold optics. That puts strong constrains on the dimensions of all the receiver components. For the SIS mixer, we employ a MMIC-like approach where most of the DSB mixer components, including LO injection circuitry with novel directional coupler, are integrated on the same crystal quartz substrate. The mixer uses a lumped filter technique to extract the IF frequencies, which is non-traditional for SIS mixers. A custom made superconducting Lange coupler with suspended air bridges to connect the fingers of Lange coupler is used. Experimental measurements of the double sideband mixer show state of the art performance with the receiver noise temperature below 30 Kelvin across the entire band. The noise temperature for sideband separation mixer is below 60 Kelvin with sideband rejection better than 12 dB over most of the band.

•Sep 1, 2009•1 citation

Fabrication of Superconductor Integrated Circuits of D-Band Dual-Polarization Balanced SIS Mixers

Shohei Ezaki, Wenlei Shan, Shin’ichiro Asayama +1 more

We have fabricated prototype superconductor integrated circuits (ICs), which accommodate planar orthomode transducer (OMT) and balanced superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixers operating at D-band (125-163 GHz). The fabrication of the ICs is different from the conventional SIS mixer fabrication process in several aspects because of new features and components being introduced and incorporated. In particular, very flat silicon membranes that mechanically support the planar OMT and the waveguide probes for local oscillator coupling were formed with a combination of dry and wet etching methods to completely remove the handle layer and the buried oxide layer of the silicon on insulator substrates. We also applied an anodization passivation of the surface of the ground plane and a via-hole etching process with an i-line stepper in the formation of low-leakage SIS junctions. The SIS junctions of moderately good quality have been fabricated with an average quality factor as high as 18, which indicate the integrity of the junction definition with the complex fabrication of ICs.

IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity•Mar 4, 2019•7 citations

Design of a 240 GHz on-chip dual-polarization receiver for SIS mixer arrays

Jakob Wenninger, Faouzi M. Boussaha, Christine Chaumont +2 more

Abstract We report the design of a compact dual-polarization on-chip superconductor–insulator–superconductor receiver for array applications. The planar-circuit receiver chip is comprised of the entire radio frequency (RF) signal processing chain with three main circuit components alongside some auxiliary circuits: (1) a polarization splitting 4-probe orthomode transducer (OMT) that couples the RF and local oscillator signal from free space to the chip via a drilled feedhorn; (2) two hybrids that recombine the power of each polarization from the two sets of orthogonal OMT probes; and (3) twin-junction Nb/AlOx/Nb mixers that downconvert the recombined signals to the intermediate frequency. We ensure that the four side walls of each pixel are free from obscuration, using only the top and bottom of the pixel for various connections. Consequently, the design is extendable to a large format array. In this paper, we present the detailed design of the on-chip receiver, including extensive heterodyne simulations and its potential extension into a large format array.

Superconductor Science and Technology•Apr 4, 2023•5 citations

Study on SIS Mixers for "ALMA" Band-10

S. V. Shitov, Oleg V. Koryukin, Andrey V. Uvarov +7 more

This paper studies superconductor insulator superconductor (SIS) mixers for ALMA Band-10 project. The possible scheme of the ALMA Band-10 cartridge with balanced lens-antenna mixers is presented. The new balanced full-height waveguide SIS mixer comprises two equal mixer chips fabricated on quartz substrates. Each chip contains an RF circuit with hybrid twin-SIS junction NbTiN/Nb-AlOx-Nb/Al. The preliminary experimental study of Band-10 receiver with a double-slot antenna SIS mixer mounted with a 10-mm immersion silicon lens is done to define an optimum layout of the tuning circuit and a combination of materials leading to the best performance of the SIS mixer.

International Kharkiv Symposium on Physics and Engineering of Microwaves, Millimeter and Submillimeter Waves•Jun 1, 2007•0 citations

Development of 460 GHz and Dual Polarization SIS Mixers for the Submillimeter Array

Chao-Te Li, Kuan‐Yu Liu, Wei-Chun Lu +6 more

A heterodyne receiver incorporating superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixers has been designed to cover the frequency range from 400 to 520 GHz of the Submillimeter Array (SMA). Various tuning circuits have been employed to resonate out the geometric capacitance of the junction and provide impedance matching to the waveguide probe. Our measurements indicated that a receiver noise temperature of around 90 K, with the contributions from the input noise and intermediate frequency (IF) noise estimated to be around 60 K and 10 K, respectively. SIS mixers integrated with planar orthomode transducers (OMT) have also been designed at 345 GHz for dual polarization detections, and results from the 3-dimensional (3-D) electromagnetic (EM) simulations are presented.

IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity•Jan 21, 2011•2 citations

Development of a Dual Polarization SIS Mixer With a Planar Orthomode Transducer at 350 GHz

Kuan‐Yu Liu, Ming-Jye Wang, Chao-Te Li +2 more

A multipixel array equipped with dual-polarization superconductor-insulator-superconductor junction mixers at approximately 350 GHz is considered to improve the efficiency and survey speed of a telescope. This study develops a compact mixer with a planar orthomode transducer as a key component. Signals coming from a circular waveguide are separated into two polarizations via orthogonal waveguide probes, and then transmitted to the junctions through the tuning circuit. To suppress resonance, metallic blocks confine the RF signals within the circular waveguide, and a 2-μm-thick silicon nitride membrane, on which all devices were implemented, was suspended across the circular waveguide. The orthomode transducer, simulated with a three-dimensional electromagnetic simulator, has a cross-polarization of less than -20 dB between 306 and 367 GHz. The IF circuit consists of a low pass filter, coplanar waveguides, and a transition to coaxial. The return loss of the IF circuit is less than -20 dB up to 16 GHz from both simulations and measurements. The superconductor-insulator-superconductor junction mixers have been fabricated with quality factor (Rsg/Rn) of 8 and the double-side-band receiver noise temperatureTrxis approximately 120 K between 320 and 360 GHz.

IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity•Jan 18, 2013•5 citations
We present the design of an integrated dual-polarisation superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixer operating at ALMA Band 10 frequency range. All the RF components, including the orthomode transducer (OMT), the quadrature hybrid and the SIS mixer circuits, are designed as superconducting planar circuits to form a single planar mixer chip. The mixer circuits will be fabricated using standard thin film deposition technology on an ultra-thin silicon-on-insulator (Sol) substrate. In this paper, we discuss in detail the design of the various RF components that make up the complete dual-polarisation SIS mixer chip, and provide the predicted performance using rigorous electromagnetic modelling. The optimised designs of these components are then integrated in a superconducting quantum mixer circuit modelling (SuperMix) environment for assessing the performance of the heterodyne parameters of the mixer such as mixer gain and noise temperature.
This licentiate is focused on the design and development of Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) junction mixer for ALMA Band 5, one of the ten frequency bands of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) project. ALMA Band 5 is a dual polarisation sideband separation heterodyne receiver covering radio frequencies (RF) from 163 GHz to 211 GHz, with 4-8 GHz intermediate frequency (IF). Amongst the other ALMA bands, Band 5 is the lowest frequency band, which uses all-cold optics. That puts strong constrains on the dimensions of all the receiver components. For the SIS mixer, we employ a MMIC-like approach where most of the DSB mixer components, including LO injection circuitry with novel directional coupler, are integrated on the same crystal quartz substrate. The mixer uses a lumped filter technique to extract the IF frequencies, which is non-traditional for SIS mixers. A custom made superconducting Lange coupler with suspended air bridges to connect the fingers of Lange coupler is used. Experimental measurements of the double sideband mixer show state of the art performance with the receiver noise temperature below 30 Kelvin across the entire band. The noise temperature for sideband separation mixer is below 60 Kelvin with sideband rejection better than 12 dB over most of the band.
We have fabricated prototype superconductor integrated circuits (ICs), which accommodate planar orthomode transducer (OMT) and balanced superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixers operating at D-band (125-163 GHz). The fabrication of the ICs is different from the conventional SIS mixer fabrication process in several aspects because of new features and components being introduced and incorporated. In particular, very flat silicon membranes that mechanically support the planar OMT and the waveguide probes for local oscillator coupling were formed with a combination of dry and wet etching methods to completely remove the handle layer and the buried oxide layer of the silicon on insulator substrates. We also applied an anodization passivation of the surface of the ground plane and a via-hole etching process with an i-line stepper in the formation of low-leakage SIS junctions. The SIS junctions of moderately good quality have been fabricated with an average quality factor as high as 18, which indicate the integrity of the junction definition with the complex fabrication of ICs.
Abstract We report the design of a compact dual-polarization on-chip superconductor–insulator–superconductor receiver for array applications. The planar-circuit receiver chip is comprised of the entire radio frequency (RF) signal processing chain with three main circuit components alongside some auxiliary circuits: (1) a polarization splitting 4-probe orthomode transducer (OMT) that couples the RF and local oscillator signal from free space to the chip via a drilled feedhorn; (2) two hybrids that recombine the power of each polarization from the two sets of orthogonal OMT probes; and (3) twin-junction Nb/AlOx/Nb mixers that downconvert the recombined signals to the intermediate frequency. We ensure that the four side walls of each pixel are free from obscuration, using only the top and bottom of the pixel for various connections. Consequently, the design is extendable to a large format array. In this paper, we present the detailed design of the on-chip receiver, including extensive heterodyne simulations and its potential extension into a large format array.
This paper studies superconductor insulator superconductor (SIS) mixers for ALMA Band-10 project. The possible scheme of the ALMA Band-10 cartridge with balanced lens-antenna mixers is presented. The new balanced full-height waveguide SIS mixer comprises two equal mixer chips fabricated on quartz substrates. Each chip contains an RF circuit with hybrid twin-SIS junction NbTiN/Nb-AlOx-Nb/Al. The preliminary experimental study of Band-10 receiver with a double-slot antenna SIS mixer mounted with a 10-mm immersion silicon lens is done to define an optimum layout of the tuning circuit and a combination of materials leading to the best performance of the SIS mixer.
A heterodyne receiver incorporating superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixers has been designed to cover the frequency range from 400 to 520 GHz of the Submillimeter Array (SMA). Various tuning circuits have been employed to resonate out the geometric capacitance of the junction and provide impedance matching to the waveguide probe. Our measurements indicated that a receiver noise temperature of around 90 K, with the contributions from the input noise and intermediate frequency (IF) noise estimated to be around 60 K and 10 K, respectively. SIS mixers integrated with planar orthomode transducers (OMT) have also been designed at 345 GHz for dual polarization detections, and results from the 3-dimensional (3-D) electromagnetic (EM) simulations are presented.
A multipixel array equipped with dual-polarization superconductor-insulator-superconductor junction mixers at approximately 350 GHz is considered to improve the efficiency and survey speed of a telescope. This study develops a compact mixer with a planar orthomode transducer as a key component. Signals coming from a circular waveguide are separated into two polarizations via orthogonal waveguide probes, and then transmitted to the junctions through the tuning circuit. To suppress resonance, metallic blocks confine the RF signals within the circular waveguide, and a 2-μm-thick silicon nitride membrane, on which all devices were implemented, was suspended across the circular waveguide. The orthomode transducer, simulated with a three-dimensional electromagnetic simulator, has a cross-polarization of less than -20 dB between 306 and 367 GHz. The IF circuit consists of a low pass filter, coplanar waveguides, and a transition to coaxial. The return loss of the IF circuit is less than -20 dB up to 16 GHz from both simulations and measurements. The superconductor-insulator-superconductor junction mixers have been fabricated with quality factor (Rsg/Rn) of 8 and the double-side-band receiver noise temperatureTrxis approximately 120 K between 320 and 360 GHz.