Design and characterization of sideband-separating SIS mixer RF hybrids for the Band 3 receiver (84-116 GHz)

Author

Dindo, P. ; Claude, S. ; Derdall, D. ; Henke, D. ; Erickson, D. ; Rodrigues, G. ; Lichtenberger, A. ; Pan, S.K.

Author_Institution

Herzberg Inst. of Astrophys., National Res. Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ont., Canada

Volume

2

fYear

2005

fDate

19-23 Sept. 2005

Firstpage

409

Abstract

The Band3 ALMA front end receiver incorporates sideband-separating (2SB) superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) RF hybrid assemblies to achieve low noise temperatures. The 2SB RF hybrid assembly consists of a feedhorn to direct the RF signals, RF and IF quadrature hybrids for separating the USB and LSB signals, and two SIS mixers to down convert the 100 GHz RF signals to 4-8 GHz IF signals. These assemblies require careful matching of the phase and amplitude of the signals in the USB and LSB pathways to minimize receiver noise. The individual components undergo careful characterization and tests to build suitable 2SB RF hybrids assemblies.

Keywords

millimetre wave mixers; millimetre wave receivers; superconducting microwave devices; superconductor-insulator-superconductor mixers; 2SB RF hybrid assembly; 4 to 8 GHz; 84 to 116 GHz; ALMA front end receiver; Band 3 receiver; IF quadrature hybrid; RF quadrature hybrid; low noise temperature; receiver noise minimisation; sideband-separating SIS mixers; sideband-separating superconductor-insulator-superconductor RF hybrid assembly; Assembly; Noise level; Phase noise; RF signals; Radio frequency; Superconducting device noise; Superconducting devices; Temperature; Testing; Universal Serial Bus;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Infrared and Millimeter Waves and 13th International Conference on Terahertz Electronics, 2005. IRMMW-THz 2005. The Joint 30th International Conference on

Print_ISBN

0-7803-9348-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ICIMW.2005.1572586

Filename

1572586