Low noise SIS mixer for 230 GHz receivers of plateau de bure interferometer

We present a SIS mixer developed for 200 – 250 GHz band receivers of Plateau de Bure Interferometer. We demonstrate the minimum DSB receiver noise of 20 K at 220 GHz. The average receiver noise of 25 K is possible in 200 – 250 GHz range. The receiver conversion gain and output noise instability of 10⁻⁴ on the time scale of 1 minute is comparable with the Shottky receivers performance. The minimum measured SIS mixer noise of about 10 K is close to the quantum limit. The waveguide SIS mixer with a single backshort has two junction array with inductively tuned junctions. The Nb/Al Oxide/Nb SIS junctions are 2.24 μm² each with the Josephson critical current density of 3.2 KA/cm². The thermal properties of the SIS mixer are studied. The mixer band of the low noise operation is in a good agreement with the design requirements.     

Development of SRAO 3MM SIS Receiver

We have developed a 3 mm band receiver for SRAO. The receiver employs an Nb-based SIS junction in the mixer and operates at 85–115 GHz with single polarization. The receiver noise temperature is 40–50 K in DSB. It is equipped with an MPI-type filter for single-side band observations. We present the design, construction, and test results for individual components of the receiver optics, heterodyne system, and cryogenics. The receiver has been installed on the 6 m SRAO telescope and tested toward astronomical sources. The beam-measurement experiment suggests that the edge taper is smaller than the designed 12 dB.     

A 40 GHz band SIS receiver using Nb/Al?AlOx/Nb array junctions

A 40 GHz band SIS mixer receiver has been built using Nb/Al–AlOx/Nb array junctions and a 4.3 K closed cycle helium refrigerator. The minimum conversion loss of the mixer is 2±1 dB and the single sideband receiver noise temperature (T_RX (SSB)) is as low as 110±10 K at 36 GHz. T_RX (SSB) is almost constant in the IF bandwidth of 600 MHz. The mixer saturation level is as high as 15 nW, which is comparable to the injected LO power.Nobeyama Radio Observatory (NRO), a branch of the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory, University of Tokyo, is a cosmic radio observing facility open for outside users.     

345 GHZ PROTOTYPE SIS MIXER WITH INTEGRATED MMIC LNA

We report on heterodyne measurements at submillimeter wavelengths using a receiver with a Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) mixer device and a Microwave Monolithic Integrated Circuit (MMIC) cryogenic low noise amplifier (LNA) module integrated into the same block. The mixer characterization presented in this work demonstrates the feasibility of operating a MMIC LNA in close proximity to the SIS device without penalty in mixer performance due to heating effects. Verification of this functionality is crucial for the ongoing development of SuperCam, a 64-pixel focal plane array receiver consisting of eight, 1 × 8 integrated mixer/LNA modules. The test setup included a mixer block modified to accept a MMIC amplifier. Our tests show that the LNA can be operated over a broad range of V_drain voltages from 0.40–1.40 V, corresponding to dissipative powers of 2.6–29 mW. We observe no significant effect on the measured uncorrected receiver noise temperatures in the 345 GHz band.     

Low noise submillimeter SIS receiver with niobium nitride quasiparticle tunnel junctions

We have developed and tested a submillimeter waveguide SIS mixer with NbN-MgO-NbN quasiparticle tunnel junctions. The two junction array is integrated in a full NbN printed circuit. The NbN film critical temperature is 15 K and the junction gap voltage is 5 mV. The size of the junctions is 1.4 × 1.4 µm and Josephson critical current density is about 1.5 KA/cm² resulting in junction R_NC product about 40. The inductive tuning circuit in NbN is integrated with each junction in two junction array. A single non contacting backshort was tuned at each frequency in the mixer block.At 306 GHz the minimum DSB receiver noise temperature is as low as 230 K. The sources of the receiver noise and of the limits of the NbN SIS submillimeter mixer improvement are discussed.     

Characterization of the IF Noise of a Submillimeter SIS Receiver

A fitting method is presented here for the accurate characterization of the IF noise contribution of a sub-millimeter SIS receiver. By fitting the mixer's IF output power response and junction's IV curve of an SIS mixer without LO pumping, we can obtain the IF noise contribution, the physical temperature of the isolator connected just behind the SIS mixer, the output mismatching of the mixer, and the total gain of the IF chain. Differing from a conventional method, which only uses the normal-state (linear) branch of the junction's IV curve, the method proposed here also includes the nonlinear portion around the gap voltage. The dynamic resistance in this portion is varied dramatically, providing us a good probe to characterize the output mismatching of the mixer, as well as other parameters.     

Simple FTS Measurement System for Submillimeter SIS Mixer

We have constructed a simple Fourier Transform Spectroscopy system, and carried out performance measurement of our 640-GHz band SIS mixer devices. This system uses the identical quasi-optics to the one for heterodyne measurement, which allows a direct and quick comparison between FTS and heterodyne responses. With a room-temperature absorber for submillimeter source, instead of a high-temperature source such as Hg lamp, we successfully obtained interferogram with good signal-to-noise ratios. The frequency resolution is moderately coarse ( 17 GHz( due to a limitation on the travel length of scanning mirror for the interferometer, but we found it is useful to investigate broad-band characteristics of SIS mixers.     

Minimum noise temperature of a practical SIS quantum mixer

Noise temperature of a SIS quantum mixer has been calculated as function of local oscillator voltage and signal source conductance on the basis of a measured I–V characteristic. Applying Tucker's quantum theory of mixing /1/, it is shown that the SIS mixer is quantum noise limited. Using cryogenic intermediate frequency amplifier, receiver noise temperature of 20 K seems to be possible at mm wavelength.     

A Low-Noise 230 GHz SIS Receiver for Radio Astronomy Employing Untuned Nb/AlOx/Nb Tunnel Junctions

A heterodyne receiver based on a 1/3 reduced height rectangular waveguide SIS mixer with two mechanical tuners has been built for astronomical observations of molecular transitions in the 230 GHz frequency band. The mixer used an untuned array (R_nC_j3, R_n70 ) of four Nb/AIOx/Nb tunnel junctions in series as a nonlinear mixing element. A reasonable balance between the input and output coupling efficiencies has been obtained by choosing the junction number N=4. The receiver exhibits DSB (Double Side Band) noise temperature around 50 K over a frequency range of more than 10 GHz centered at 230 GHz. The lowest system noise temperature of 38 K has been recorded at 232.5 GHz. Mainly by adjusting the subwaveguide backshort, the SSB (Single Side Band) operation with image rejection of 15 dB is obtained with the noise temperature as low as 50 K. In addition, the noise contribution from each receiver component has been studied further. The minimum SIS mixer noise temperature is estimated as 15 K, pretty close to the quantum limit v/k11 K at 230 GHz. It is believed that the receiver noise temperatures presented are the lowest yet reported for a 230 GHz receiver using untuned junctions.     

A 650-GHz Band SIS Receiver for Balloon-Borne Limb-Emission Sounder

A superconducting low-noise receiver has been developed for atmospheric observations in the 650-GHz band. A waveguide-type tunerless mixer mount was designed based on one for the 200-GHz band. Two niobium SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) junctions were connected by a tuning inductance to cancel the junction capacitance. We designed the R_nC_j product to be 8 and the current density to be 5.5 kA/cm². The measured receiver noise temperature in DSB was 126-259 K in the frequency range of 618-660 GHz at an IF of 5.2 GHz, and that in the IF band (5-7 GHz) was 126-167 K at 621 GHz. Direct detection measurements using a Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) showed the frequency response of the SIS mixer to be in the range of about 500-700 GHz. The fractional bandwidth was about 14%. The SIS receiver will be installed in a balloon-borne limb-emission sounder that will be launched from Sanriku Balloon Center in Japan.     

A Fixed-Tuned W-Band Waveguide SIS Mixer with 4.0-7.5 GHz IF

The design and performance of a fixed-tuned W-band SIS mixer with a wide band IF of 4.0-7.5 GHz is presented. Waveguide-to-stripline transition of the SIS mixer is designed using the lumped-gap-source port provided by HFSS^TM. Measured receiver noise temperature is less than 25 K in the frequency range of 95-120 GHz, with a minimum value of around 19 K achieved. Mixer noise temperature is determined to be about 8.5 K, which is around twice the quantum limit (i.e., 2hw/k). In spite of the high IF frequencies (f ₀ = 6 GHz), the performance of the SIS receiver is comparable or even superior to those of the best mechanically-tunable waveguide SIS receivers at low IF frequencies (f ₀ = 1.5 GHz). This result suggests that it is easy to design waveguide-to-stripline transitions without scale-model measurements.     

An Integrated Sideband-Separating SIS Mixer Based on Waveguide Split Block for 100 GHz Band with 4.0–8.0 GHz IF

We have developed an integrated sideband-separating SIS mixer for the 100 GHz band based on the waveguide split block. The measured receiver noise temperatures with 4.0–8.0 GHz IF are less than 60 K in the LO frequency range of 90–110 GHz, and a minimum value of around 45 K is achieved at 100 GHz. The image rejection ratios are more than 10 dB in the frequency range of 90–110 GHz. We have installed the sideband-separating SIS mixer into an atmospheric ozone-measuring system at Osaka Prefecture University and successfully observed an ozone spectrum at 110 GHz in SSB mode. This experimental result indicates that the sideband-separating SIS mixer is very useful for astronomical observation as well as atmospheric observation.     

The Development of a Dual Channel SIS Receiver of Trao Telescope

We developed a low noise dual channel receiver with 100GHz and 150GHz band, which is used to make the simultaneous observation with two bands. The SIS mixers are used in both bands. The constructed dewar for the receiver has a performance with a vacuum of 10^–8torr and a temperature of 4.2K. The receiver noise temperature is 50K(DSB) for 100GHz band and 80K(DSB) for 150GHz band, respectively. In order to achieve the simultaneous observations, the quasioptical system is precisely designed, and also evaluated by measurements in the laboratory. The relative pointing offset between two bands is 3. We have observed the various sources using the receiver since October 1998.     

A 110 GHz SIS receiver for radio astronomy

A 110 GHz superconductor insulator superconductor (SIS) tunnel junction receiver has been developed and used in regular astronomical observations on the 4m radio telescope at the Department of Astrophysics, Nagoya University. The SIS junction consists of a sandwich structure of Nb/AlOx/Nb, and is cooled to 4.2K with a closed cycle He-gas refrigerator. The receiver exhibits a best double side band noise temperature of 23±2 K at 110GHz. Additional measurements at 98–115 GHz indicate that the receiver has a good response over this input frequency range.     

A Low Noise NbTiN-Based 850 GHz SIS Receiver for the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory

We have developed a niobium titanium nitride (NbTiN) based superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) receiver to cover the 350 micron atmospheric window. This frequency band lies entirely above the energy gap of niobium (700 GHz), a commonly used SIS superconductor. The instrument uses an open structure twin-slot SIS mixer that consists of two Nb/AlN/NbTiN tunnel junctions, NbTiN thin-film microstrip tuning elements, and a NbTiN ground plane. The optical configuration is very similar to the 850 GHz waveguide receiver that was installed at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) in 1997. To minimize front-end loss, we employed reflecting optics and a cooled beamsplitter at 4 K. The instrument has an uncorrected receiver noise temperature of 205K DSB at 800 GHz and 410K DSB at 900 GHz. The degradation in receiver sensitivity with frequency is primarily due to an increase in the mixer conversion loss, which is attributed to the mismatch between the SIS junction and the twin-slot antenna impedance. The overall system performance has been confirmed through its use at the telescope to detect a wealth of new spectroscopic lines.     

Reduction of Fringe Noise in Wavelength Modulation Spectroscopy Using a One-Dimensional Focal Plane Array

In wavelength modulation spectroscopy using diode lasers, detection limit of molecular absorption is often imposed by spurious fringe noises that arise from slight reflections among optical components. In an attempt to reduce this fringe effect, we propose and demonstrate the use of a one-dimensional focal plane array. With the help of a multiplexer, a single lock-in amplifier is employed to obtain multiple-channel signals from wavelength-modulated output of an array detector. It is found that the intensity change of the molecular absorption signal is nearly proportional to the transversal beam intensity distribution, whereas that of fringe noise is much less conspicuous. These features, as well as the phase difference among the channels, contribute to separate the signal and fringe noise components from the multiplexed spectra, leading to the overall improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio.     

Simple 1 MM Receivers with a Fixed Tuned Double Sideband SIS Mixer and a Wideband INP MMIC Amplifier

We report on techniques to broaden the intermediate frequency (IF) bandwidth of the BerkeleyIllinoisMaryland Array (BIMA) 1mm SuperconductorInsulatorSuperconductor (SIS) heterodyne receivers by combining fixed tuned Double Side Band (DSB) SIS mixers and wideband Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) IF amplifiers. To obtain the flattest receiver gain across the IF band we tested three schemes for keeping the mixer and amplifier as electrically close as possible. In Receiver I, we connected separate mixer and MMIC modules by a 1 stainless steel SMA elbow. In Receiver II, we integrated mixer and MMIC into a modified BIMA mixer module. In Receiver III, we devised a thermally split block in which mixer and MMIC can be maintained at different temperatures–in this receiver module the mixer at 4 K sees very little of the 10–20 mW heat load of the biased MMIC at 10 K. The best average receiver noise we achieved by combining SIS mixer and MMIC amplifier is 45 50 K DSB for _LO = 215–240 GHz and below 80 K DSB for _LO = 205 270 GHz. Over an IF frequency band of 1 – 4 GHz we have demonstrated receiver DSB noise temperatures of 40 – 60 K. Of the three receiver schemes, we feel Receiver III shows the most promise for continued development.     

A 691 GHz sis receiver for radio astronomy

We report the development of a low noise heterodyne receiver optimized for astronomical observations in the 650 GHz atmospheric window, and specifically for the CO(J=65) line at 691.5 GHz. The system is based on an open structure SIS heterodyne mixer pumped by a continuously tunable solid state oscillator. A niobium SIS junction double array is placed at the end of an integrated V-Antenna. For broad band impedance matching a combination of microstrip impedance transformer and radial stub was used. Receiver noise temperatures of 550 K DSB at 684 GHz were achieved at a 1.8 K physical temperature. The performance improved substantially when decreasing the temperature from 4.2 to 1.8 K. Comparison of model calculations and Fourier transform direct detection measurements of the tuning structure implies that this effect is likely due to the coincidence of operational frequency and the gap frequency of the niobium.     

用于凝视焦平面的多视场红外光学系统

红外光学系统决定着红外系统的工作模式与工作精度,影响系统的作用距离,是红外系统的重要组成部分。多视场光学系统可以用不同的视场对同一目标进行搜索、识别、跟踪与瞄准,在军事应用领域获得了广泛的应用。光学系统的结构形式影响红外系统的成像质量、性能指标、外形尺寸、价格成本、机电复杂程度等,因此研究和选取合适的多视场光学系统结构形式显得非常重要。对目前国内外应用于凝视焦平面探测器的多视场红外光学系统结构形式,如切换变焦、光学补偿变焦、机械补偿变焦、混合变焦、双光路变焦等进行了特点分析,比较了其优点与局限性,对光学设计人员合理选用多视场光学系统结构形式具有一定的理论指导作用和意义。     

用于红外焦平面的正方形孔径球面微透镜阵列研究

针对目前红外焦平面光敏阵列中存在的占空比小、光能利用率低的实际问题,展开了正方形孔径球面微透镜阵列制作及其与红外焦平面阵列集成应用的研究.本文从红外焦平面光敏阵列特点入手,对比分析了正方形孔径相比于传统圆形孔径微透镜阵列在光能利用上的优势.提出正方形孔径微透镜阵列激光直写变剂量曝光制作技术,建立光刻胶曝光数学模型和正方形球面微透镜面型函数,以此为基础,编制直写设备变剂量曝光控制软件;利用长春理工大的学复合坐标激光直写系统和等离子刻蚀机进行相关工艺实验,制作了阵列256×256、单元尺寸40×40 μm²、球面半径60 μm、单元间距1 μm的红外石英微透镜阵列;并将其与相应阵列的碲-镉-汞红外光敏阵列进行集成.结果表明:微透镜的占空比达到95%,红外焦平面光能利用率从原来的60%提高到90% 以上.由此得出结论:变剂量曝光制作微透镜技术是可行的,正方形孔径球面微透镜阵列代替圆形孔径微透镜阵列,对于提高红外探测器的灵敏度、信噪比、分辨率等性能具备明显优势.