Characterization of the Mixing Performance of All-NbN Superconducting Tunnel Junctions at 0.5 THz

Author

Li, Jing ; Takeda, Masanori ; Wang, Zhen ; Shi, Sheng-Cai

Author_Institution

Purple Mountain Obs., CAS, Nanjing, China

Volume

19

Issue

3

fYear

2009

fDate

6/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

417

Lastpage

422

Abstract

With a gap frequency of 1.4 THz, all-NbN Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) junctions are potentially applicable to sensitive heterodyne mixers for THz astronomy and atmospheric research. In this paper, we report the design, fabrication, and performance characterization of a 0.5-THz waveguide SIS mixer incorporating twin NbN/AlN/NbN junctions and an NbN/MgO/NbN tuning circuit with no impedance transformers. The noise performance of two NbN SIS junctions with different tuning inductances is measured, compared with the simulated results without and with the multiple Andreev reflection (MAR) effect taken into account, and also compared with the video detection response. In addition, the IF-output-power stability and aging effect of fabricated NbN SIS junctions are investigated.

Keywords

ageing; aluminium compounds; magnesium compounds; niobium compounds; superconducting device noise; superconducting materials; superconductor-insulator-superconductor mixers; waveguide components; waveguide junctions; IF-output-power stability; NbN-AlN-NbN; NbN-MgO-NbN; SIS junctions; aging effect; frequency 0.5 THz; multiple Andreev reflection effect; noise performance; superconducting tunnel junctions; superconductor-insulator-superconductor junctions; tuning circuit; tuning inductances; video detection response; waveguide SIS mixer design; waveguide SIS mixer fabrication; Aging effect; NbN; stability; superconductor-insulator-superconductor mixers; terahertz;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Applied Superconductivity, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1051-8223

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TASC.2009.2018504

Filename

5153072