NbN hot electron bolometric mixers-a new technology for low noise THz receivers

Author

Gerecht, E. ; Musante, C.F. ; Zhuang, Y. ; Yngvesson, K.S. ; Goyette, T. ; Dickinson, J. ; Waldman, J. ; Yagoubov, P.A. ; Gol´tsman, G.N. ; Voronov, B.M. ; Gershenzon, E.M.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Phys. & Astron., Massachusetts Univ., Amherst, MA, USA

Volume

4

fYear

1999

fDate

13-19 June 1999

Firstpage

1789

Abstract

New advances in Hot Electron Bolometer (HEB) mixers have resulted in record low receiver noise temperatures at THz frequencies recently. We have developed quasi-optically coupled NbN HEB mixers and measured noise temperatures up to 1.56 THz, as described in this paper. We project the anticipated future performance of such receivers to have even lower noise temperature and LO power requirement as well as wider gain and noise bandwidths. We introduce a proposal for integrated focal plane arrays of HEB mixers which will further increase the detection speed of THz systems.

Keywords

bolometers; focal planes; hot carriers; niobium compounds; submillimetre wave mixers; submillimetre wave receivers; superconducting device noise; superconducting microwave devices; superconducting mixers; 1.56 THz; NbN; NbN hot electron bolometric mixer; focal plane array; noise temperature; quasi-optical coupling; terahertz receiver; Astronomy; Electrons; Frequency; Microwave technology; Physics; Plasma temperature; Schottky diodes; Space technology; Superconducting device noise; Superconducting films;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwave Symposium Digest, 1999 IEEE MTT-S International

Conference_Location

Anaheim, CA, USA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5135-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MWSYM.1999.780319

Filename

780319