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IEEE Transactions on Magnetics

A full-band waveguide SIS receiver with integrated tuning for 75-100 GHz

Dag Winkler, N. G. Ugras, A. Hodge Worsham, D. E. Prober, Neal R. Erickson, P. F. Goldsmith

Published Mar 1, 1991• 0 citations
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Abstract

This paper reports on the performance of a broadband SIS receiver with no mechanical tuning elements was scale modelled and tested. The mixer mount had a broadband waveguide to microstripline transition consisting of a 4-step Chebychev single ridge transformer. The last step of the ridge connected the waveguide to a microstripline circuit. The on-chip circuit consisted of a microstripline, which transmitted the rf and the local oscillator signals to the SIS mixer. Some chips included a thin film strip inductor in parallel with the mixer. Both the SIS element and the inductor had rf grounds provided by 90{degrees} radial stubs. The inductor tuned out the junction capacitance to allow operation over the full frequency band. The SIS element can be a single junction or series array using Nb/AlO{sub x}/Nb trilayer tunnel junctions with areas as small as 0.5 {mu}m{sup 2} and V{sub m}(2mV) = 39 mV. Preliminary results indicated a DSB receiver noise temperature of 65-80 K across the band measured at 4.4 K with an internal cryogenic rf hot/cold source and with T{sub if} = 21 K. With another device, we achieved a mixer noise temperature of 35 K at 100 GHz increasing to 45 K at 79.5 andmore » 110 GHZ. Coupled mixer gain of up to +3 dB and negative dynamic resistance on the first photon step were observed. The lowest noise temperature was obtained for an untuned single junction mixer at 80 GHz; T{sub R} = 41 K and T{sub M} = 20 K were measured.« less

Related papers

A full-band waveguide SIS receiver with integrated tuning for 75-110 GHz

Dag Winkler, N. G. Ugras, A. Hodge Worsham +3 more

The performance of a broadband SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) receiver with no mechanical tuning elements was modeled and tested. The mixer mount had a broadband-waveguide-to-microstripline transition consisting of a four-step Chebyshev single-ridge transformer. The last step of the ridge connected the waveguide to a microstripline circuit. The on-chip circuit consisted of a microstripline that transmitted the RF and the local oscillator signals to the SIS mixer. Both the SIS element and the inductor had RF grounds provided by 90 degrees radial stubs. The inductor tuned out the junction capacitance to allow operation over the full frequency band. The SIS element can be a single junction or series array using Nb-AlO/sub x/-Nb trilayer tunnel junctions with areas as small as 0.5 mu m/sup 2/ and V/sub m/(2 mV)=39 mV. Preliminary results indicated a DSB receiver noise temperature of 65-80 K across the band measured at 4.4 K with an internal cryogenic RF hot/cold source and with T/sub if/=21 K. With another device, a mixer noise temperature of 35 K at 100 GHz was achieved, increasing to 45 K at 79.5 and 110 GHz. Coupled mixer gain of up to +3 dB and negative dynamic resistance on the first photon step were observed. The lowest noise temperature was obtained for an untuned single-junction mixer at 80 GHz: T/sub R/=41 K and T/sub M/=20 K were measured.

IEEE Transactions on Magnetics•Mar 1, 1991•11 citations

Design of a w-band SIS mixer

D. Winker

The mixer mount for a 75 -110 GHz SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) receiver was scale modeled at 2 - 8 GHz . The mixer mount had a 4-step Chebychev single ridge transformer to launch the rf signal from the waveguide to a microstripline circuit. The microstripline circuit coupled the rf signal into the on-chip SIS element. A wire inductor in parallel with the mixer was used to tune out the capacitance of the SIS junction. Both the junction and the inductor had rf grounds provided by 90° radial stubs. In the scale model, a 50 Ω chip resistor in parallel with a 1 pF chip capacitor was used in place of the SIS junction to measure the rf matching properties. The inductor was modeled with a thin copper wire. The VSWR of the entire mount was less than 2.1 : 1 over the frequency band corresponding to 75 - 107 GHz. Receiver measurements with the actual mixer mount employing trilayer SIS tunnel junctions gave similar trends across the band.

International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves (IRMMW-THz)•Dec 1, 1990•0 citations

Design and characterization of 225-370 GHz DSB and 247-360 GHz SSB full height waveguide SIS mixers

B. Lazareff, Dominique Billon-Pierron, A. Navarrini +1 more

We report on the design and characterization of two full height waveguide SIS mixers for astronomical applications: a Double Side Band (DSB) fixed-tuned mixer covering the 225-370 GHz band ( 50 % of relative bandwidth), and a tunable Single Side Band (SSB) mixer covering the 247-360 GHz frequency range. The DSB receiver noise temperature we have measured is below 50 K over a bandwidth larger than 100 GHz for the DSB mixer and has a minimum of 27 K (uncorrected) at 336 GHz; to our knowledge this is the lowest noise ever reported at this frequency. A receiver noise temperature below 80 K and an image band rejection around -14 dB were measured over most of the band of the SSB mixer. Both mixers use similar chips that integrate a parallel tuning inductor with a radial microstrip stub to compensate for the junction capacitance of 75 fF (junction size 1 μm 2 ). A stability criterion for intrinsically DSB and SSB mixers under typical operating conditions has been derived. The receiver designs have been optimised in order to guarantee a low mixer noise temperature while maintaining adequate gain and stable operation over the whole frequency bands of interest.

Journal de Physique IV (Proceedings)•May 1, 2002•5 citations

Low noise broadband fixed tuned SIS waveguide mixers at 660 and 800 GHz

Cornelia E. Honingh, Sybille Haas, D. Hottgenroth +2 more

We present measurements and simulations of mixer performance around 660 GHz and around 800 GHz. We use Nb-Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/-Nb tunnel junctions with areas of 0.9 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ and 0.7 /spl mu/m/sup 2/, and RA-products of 14.5 /spl Omega/(/spl mu/m)/sup 2/ and 13 /spl Omega/(/spl mu/m)/sup 2/ for 660 GHz and 800 GHz. Both junctions have an integrated tuning structure made of niobium that consists of a series resonant stub and a quarter lambda transformer. The waveguide mixerblock has no additional adjustable tuning elements. It contains just a waveguide cavity and a substrate channel across it. A horn is carefully adjusted to the cavity and flanged to the block. The measured receiver noise temperatures from 630-690 GHz are below 190 K with a best value of 120 K at 655 GHz. From 780-820 GHz they are below 950 K with a best value of 780 K at 792 GHz. When the operating temperature is reduced from 4.2 K to 2.5 K, a reduction in noise temperature from 830 K to 660 K is observed at 810 GHz. The mixer performance is simulated using the quantum theory of mixing. The simulated performance shows a fairly good agreement with the measured one.

IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity•Jun 1, 1997•21 citations

A 665 GHz Waveguide Receiver Using a Tuned 0.5 μm 2 Nb/AlO x /Nb SIS Tunnel Junction

J. Kooi, Mansun Chan, Henry George LeDuc +1 more

We report recent results on a 580-740 GHz SIS heterodyne receiver employing a tuned 0.50Am Nb/A10x/Nb SIS tunnel junction. The receiver has been successfully installed at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory, Hawaii. Results of an untuned device in the same waveguide block were presented at the fifth International THz Conference. Since the mixer is meant to be operated near the superconducting gap frequency of niobium (2,L/h 690 GHz), special has been taken to minimize the absorption loss in the rf matching network. To this effect we propose the use of a RF matching network that constitutes a hybrid between the well know end-loaded stub and radial stub matching networks. We have measured uncorrected DSB receiver temperatures as low as 160K from 680to 702 Gliz, 200K at 725GHz and 120K from 585-640 GHz. The uncorrected mixer noise temperature at 702 Gliz is about 125K, of which 62K can be directly contributed to the front end optics loss. Mixer conversion loss at 702 GHz is 7dB, of which 0.9dB is due to the absorption loss in the Nb film. This results in a corrected mixer noise temperature of 63K, 1.7 times the quantum noise limit.

Softwaretechnik-Trends•Mar 1, 1996•1 citation

A 547 GHz SIS receiver employing a submicron Nb junction with an integrated matching circuit

Pascal Febvre, William R. McGrath, P. D. Batelaan +4 more

A heterodyne receiver using an SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) waveguide mixer with two mechanical tuners has been built and characterized over the frequency range of 460 GHz to 630 GHz. This receiver is designed for radioastronomy applications. The mixer uses high-current-density, 0.25- mu m/sup 2/, Nb/AlO/sub x//Nb SIS tunnel junctions with integrated superconductive RF circuits to tune the junction capacitance. A DSB (double sideband) receiver noise temperature as low as 200+or-17 K has been obtained at 540 GHz. In addition, negative differential resistance has been observed in the DC I-V (current-voltage) curve at 487-491 GHz.>

IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium digest•Dec 30, 2002•4 citations
This paper reports on the performance of a broadband SIS receiver with no mechanical tuning elements was scale modelled and tested. The mixer mount had a broadband waveguide to microstripline transition consisting of a 4-step Chebychev single ridge transformer. The last step of the ridge connected the waveguide to a microstripline circuit. The on-chip circuit consisted of a microstripline, which transmitted the rf and the local oscillator signals to the SIS mixer. Some chips included a thin film strip inductor in parallel with the mixer. Both the SIS element and the inductor had rf grounds provided by 90{degrees} radial stubs. The inductor tuned out the junction capacitance to allow operation over the full frequency band. The SIS element can be a single junction or series array using Nb/AlO{sub x}/Nb trilayer tunnel junctions with areas as small as 0.5 {mu}m{sup 2} and V{sub m}(2mV) = 39 mV. Preliminary results indicated a DSB receiver noise temperature of 65-80 K across the band measured at 4.4 K with an internal cryogenic rf hot/cold source and with T{sub if} = 21 K. With another device, we achieved a mixer noise temperature of 35 K at 100 GHz increasing to 45 K at 79.5 andmore » 110 GHZ. Coupled mixer gain of up to +3 dB and negative dynamic resistance on the first photon step were observed. The lowest noise temperature was obtained for an untuned single junction mixer at 80 GHz; T{sub R} = 41 K and T{sub M} = 20 K were measured.« less
The performance of a broadband SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) receiver with no mechanical tuning elements was modeled and tested. The mixer mount had a broadband-waveguide-to-microstripline transition consisting of a four-step Chebyshev single-ridge transformer. The last step of the ridge connected the waveguide to a microstripline circuit. The on-chip circuit consisted of a microstripline that transmitted the RF and the local oscillator signals to the SIS mixer. Both the SIS element and the inductor had RF grounds provided by 90 degrees radial stubs. The inductor tuned out the junction capacitance to allow operation over the full frequency band. The SIS element can be a single junction or series array using Nb-AlO/sub x/-Nb trilayer tunnel junctions with areas as small as 0.5 mu m/sup 2/ and V/sub m/(2 mV)=39 mV. Preliminary results indicated a DSB receiver noise temperature of 65-80 K across the band measured at 4.4 K with an internal cryogenic RF hot/cold source and with T/sub if/=21 K. With another device, a mixer noise temperature of 35 K at 100 GHz was achieved, increasing to 45 K at 79.5 and 110 GHz. Coupled mixer gain of up to +3 dB and negative dynamic resistance on the first photon step were observed. The lowest noise temperature was obtained for an untuned single-junction mixer at 80 GHz: T/sub R/=41 K and T/sub M/=20 K were measured.
The mixer mount for a 75 -110 GHz SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) receiver was scale modeled at 2 - 8 GHz . The mixer mount had a 4-step Chebychev single ridge transformer to launch the rf signal from the waveguide to a microstripline circuit. The microstripline circuit coupled the rf signal into the on-chip SIS element. A wire inductor in parallel with the mixer was used to tune out the capacitance of the SIS junction. Both the junction and the inductor had rf grounds provided by 90° radial stubs. In the scale model, a 50 Ω chip resistor in parallel with a 1 pF chip capacitor was used in place of the SIS junction to measure the rf matching properties. The inductor was modeled with a thin copper wire. The VSWR of the entire mount was less than 2.1 : 1 over the frequency band corresponding to 75 - 107 GHz. Receiver measurements with the actual mixer mount employing trilayer SIS tunnel junctions gave similar trends across the band.
We report on the design and characterization of two full height waveguide SIS mixers for astronomical applications: a Double Side Band (DSB) fixed-tuned mixer covering the 225-370 GHz band ( 50 % of relative bandwidth), and a tunable Single Side Band (SSB) mixer covering the 247-360 GHz frequency range. The DSB receiver noise temperature we have measured is below 50 K over a bandwidth larger than 100 GHz for the DSB mixer and has a minimum of 27 K (uncorrected) at 336 GHz; to our knowledge this is the lowest noise ever reported at this frequency. A receiver noise temperature below 80 K and an image band rejection around -14 dB were measured over most of the band of the SSB mixer. Both mixers use similar chips that integrate a parallel tuning inductor with a radial microstrip stub to compensate for the junction capacitance of 75 fF (junction size 1 μm 2 ). A stability criterion for intrinsically DSB and SSB mixers under typical operating conditions has been derived. The receiver designs have been optimised in order to guarantee a low mixer noise temperature while maintaining adequate gain and stable operation over the whole frequency bands of interest.
We present measurements and simulations of mixer performance around 660 GHz and around 800 GHz. We use Nb-Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/-Nb tunnel junctions with areas of 0.9 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ and 0.7 /spl mu/m/sup 2/, and RA-products of 14.5 /spl Omega/(/spl mu/m)/sup 2/ and 13 /spl Omega/(/spl mu/m)/sup 2/ for 660 GHz and 800 GHz. Both junctions have an integrated tuning structure made of niobium that consists of a series resonant stub and a quarter lambda transformer. The waveguide mixerblock has no additional adjustable tuning elements. It contains just a waveguide cavity and a substrate channel across it. A horn is carefully adjusted to the cavity and flanged to the block. The measured receiver noise temperatures from 630-690 GHz are below 190 K with a best value of 120 K at 655 GHz. From 780-820 GHz they are below 950 K with a best value of 780 K at 792 GHz. When the operating temperature is reduced from 4.2 K to 2.5 K, a reduction in noise temperature from 830 K to 660 K is observed at 810 GHz. The mixer performance is simulated using the quantum theory of mixing. The simulated performance shows a fairly good agreement with the measured one.
We report recent results on a 580-740 GHz SIS heterodyne receiver employing a tuned 0.50Am Nb/A10x/Nb SIS tunnel junction. The receiver has been successfully installed at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory, Hawaii. Results of an untuned device in the same waveguide block were presented at the fifth International THz Conference. Since the mixer is meant to be operated near the superconducting gap frequency of niobium (2,L/h 690 GHz), special has been taken to minimize the absorption loss in the rf matching network. To this effect we propose the use of a RF matching network that constitutes a hybrid between the well know end-loaded stub and radial stub matching networks. We have measured uncorrected DSB receiver temperatures as low as 160K from 680to 702 Gliz, 200K at 725GHz and 120K from 585-640 GHz. The uncorrected mixer noise temperature at 702 Gliz is about 125K, of which 62K can be directly contributed to the front end optics loss. Mixer conversion loss at 702 GHz is 7dB, of which 0.9dB is due to the absorption loss in the Nb film. This results in a corrected mixer noise temperature of 63K, 1.7 times the quantum noise limit.
A heterodyne receiver using an SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) waveguide mixer with two mechanical tuners has been built and characterized over the frequency range of 460 GHz to 630 GHz. This receiver is designed for radioastronomy applications. The mixer uses high-current-density, 0.25- mu m/sup 2/, Nb/AlO/sub x//Nb SIS tunnel junctions with integrated superconductive RF circuits to tune the junction capacitance. A DSB (double sideband) receiver noise temperature as low as 200+or-17 K has been obtained at 540 GHz. In addition, negative differential resistance has been observed in the DC I-V (current-voltage) curve at 487-491 GHz.>