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Technical Physics Letters

Superconducting Matching Circuits for an Oscillator and an SIS Mixer in the Subterahertz Frequency Range

A. A. Atepalikhin, Fedor V. Khan, Lyudmila V. Filippenko, V. P. Koshelets

Published Jan 1, 2024• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract At present, microwave transmission lines are characterized by a strong frequency dependence of loss in the subterahertz range. This work is aimed at development, research, and optimization of superconducting integrated circuits designed for matching the impedances of a long Josephson junction oscillator (a so-called “flux-flow oscillator”) and a superconductor–insulator–superconductor (SIS) detector in the subterahertz frequency range. The goal of this study is to improve and approve the numerical calculation methods, which make it possible to describe correctly experimental superconducting structures in a wide frequency range. Numerical calculations of integrated circuits have been performed in order to optimize the topology and parameters of transmission lines. The main parameters of the transmission lines and their influence on the signal propagation are determined. The results of optimization of integrated matching circuits in the range of 450–700 GHz have been experimentally confirmed. Optimization and improvement of transmission lines allow one to design new-generation integrated superconducting detectors and investigate tunnel SIS junctions more thoroughly (including shunted ones) and the properties of heterodyne oscillators based on long Josephson junctions.

DOI
10.1134/s1063785024700330

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IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity•Mar 1, 1993•67 citations
Abstract At present, microwave transmission lines are characterized by a strong frequency dependence of loss in the subterahertz range. This work is aimed at development, research, and optimization of superconducting integrated circuits designed for matching the impedances of a long Josephson junction oscillator (a so-called “flux-flow oscillator”) and a superconductor–insulator–superconductor (SIS) detector in the subterahertz frequency range. The goal of this study is to improve and approve the numerical calculation methods, which make it possible to describe correctly experimental superconducting structures in a wide frequency range. Numerical calculations of integrated circuits have been performed in order to optimize the topology and parameters of transmission lines. The main parameters of the transmission lines and their influence on the signal propagation are determined. The results of optimization of integrated matching circuits in the range of 450–700 GHz have been experimentally confirmed. Optimization and improvement of transmission lines allow one to design new-generation integrated superconducting detectors and investigate tunnel SIS junctions more thoroughly (including shunted ones) and the properties of heterodyne oscillators based on long Josephson junctions.
This work is aimed at the development, research and optimization of superconducting integrated circuits designed to match the impedances of a long Josephson junction generator, the so-called flux generator (FFO) and a superconductor--insulator--superconductor (SIS) detector in the sub-terahertz frequency range. Numerical calculations of integrated circuits designed to optimize the parameters of transmission lines are presented. The main parameters of the lines and their influence on signal propagation are determined. The results of optimization of integrated matching circuits in the range of 450-700 GHz are demonstrated. Keywords: integrated matching circuits, Josephson junctions, sub-terahertz generator.
Abstract In this paper, we developed and investigated superconducting integrated circuits designed to match the impedances of a generator represented by a flux-flow oscillator based on a long Josephson junction and a detector based on a superconductor–insulator–superconductor tunnel junction in the subterahertz frequency range. The structures were modeled using the transfer matrix method. Designs were also calculated in the program of numerical three-dimensional modeling. A qualitative agreement was found between the results obtained by two methods. Three samples with different topologies were designed, covering the frequency range of 250–680 GHz at a level of –2 dB.
Josephson junctions (JJs) with non-hysteretic I-V characteristic and high critical parameters are required for many applications; in particular, they are needed to create tunable THz range oscillators. We fabricated and studied shunted superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) Nb-AlOx-Nb tunnel junctions with an area of about 1μm2, estimated their parameters, and compared them with theoretical models. To assess the performance of shunted junctions in the terahertz range, their characteristics were studied under the influence of a high-frequency signal; the estimated value of the characteristic voltage for the shunted junction at a high frequency is about 1 mV. To improve the circuit parameters, a new type of the shunting based on application of NIS junctions was proposed, which reduces the influence of parasitic inductance, expands the frequency range of the generator, and decreases the size of the structure. The JJs with a new type of shunting have been fabricated and studied. The niobium integrated circuits intended for matching the superconducting oscillator and an SIS junction as a microwave detector were designed, fabricated, and tested. Such structures are required for studying the spectral characteristics and analyzing the operation of the oscillator. The developed circuits have demonstrated efficient operation at frequencies from 300 to 700 GHz; the experimental results are in good agreement with the simulated characteristics. The results obtained will be implemented for further development of the THz range oscillators.
Superconducting integrated structures intended for matching generator impedances based on a distributed Josephson junction and detector based on a superconductor–insulator–superconductor tunnel junction in the subterahertz frequency range. The structures were modeled using the transfer matrix method. The designs were calculated in a three-dimensional numerical modeling program. A qualitative agreement was found between the results obtained by the two methods. Three designs have been designed with various topologies covering the frequency range 250...680 GHz at a level of –2 dB
Abstract Superconducting integrated circuits based on NbTiN/Al transmission lines at frequencies of up to 1.1 THz have been developed and experimentally investigated. The numerical simulation has been carried out for two topologies of a microcircuit with an operating frequency range of 0.9‒1.2 THz, which contains a slot antenna formed in the NbTiN thin film and output-matched with a microstrip transmission line and a superconductor‒insulator‒superconductor (SIS) tunnel junction with an area of ~1 µm2 acting as a terahertz detector. Experimental samples of the microcircuit have been fabricated and tested in an experimental setup utilizing a backward-wave oscillator with an output frequency of up to 1.1 THz used as a source. The powerful pumping of the SIS detector has been obtained to demonstrate the applicability of the fabricated NbTiN/Al transmission lines for operation in superconducting circuits at frequencies above 750 GHz, where the conventional Nb/Nb transmission lines cannot operate due to high losses.
All-refractory material superconducting millimeter-wave oscillators have been designed and investigated experimentally with different superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixers integrated on the same chip. Tested structures include a flux-flow oscillator (FFO) based on a long Josephson junction, a coupling section, and an SIS detector with tuned out junction capacitance. Coupling sections were designed as multistep microstrip quarter-wave impedance transformers. All junctions have been fabricated on the basis of a high-quality trilayer Nb-AlO/sub x/-Nb process. Microwave oscillations in the frequency range 75-500 GHz have been detected experimentally. The level of delivered power was estimated from the pumped I-V curve of the strongly coupled single junction detector. Coupled power levels higher than 0.1 mu W at 256 GHz were achieved. A spectral linewidth of the FFO of less than 1 MHz has been estimated experimentally. The first attempt to create an integrated receiver based on an FFO and an SIS array mixer integrated on the same chip was made in the 2-mm wavelength band.>