Development of a Superconducting Low-Noise 3.1-THz Hot Electron Bolometer Receiver

Author

Irimajiri, Yoshihisa ; Kawakami, Akira ; Morohashi, Isao ; Kumagai, Motohiro ; Sekine, Norihiko ; Nagano, Shigeo ; Ochiai, Satoshi ; Tanaka, Shukichi ; Hanado, Yuko ; Uzawa, Yoshinori ; Hosako, Iwao

Author_Institution

Nat. Inst. of Inf. & Commun. Technol., Koganei, Japan

Volume

5

Issue

6

fYear

2015

Firstpage

1154

Lastpage

1159

Abstract

We have developed a hot electron bolometer mixer (HEBM) at 3.1 THz with a terahertz quantum cascade laser (THz- QCL) as a local oscillator. Both the HEBM and the THz-QCL device are fabricated in our laboratory. NbN film with 3 nm thickness was deposited on MgO substrate. The output power of the metal-metal waveguide type 3.1 THz-QCL was about 100 W at a heat sink temperature of 15 K. The lowest uncorrected receiver noise temperature of the HEBM was 1200 K (DSB). The corrected receiver noise temperature was 810 K (DSB). The measured IF noise bandwidth was about 3 GHz. The spectroscopic Allan time was 10 s. We have also demonstrated detection of emission line spectra of methanol [CH 3OH ].

Keywords

bolometers; electron waveguides; hot carriers; niobium compounds; quantum cascade lasers; submillimetre wave lasers; submillimetre wave mixers; submillimetre wave oscillators; superconducting mixers; temperature measurement; temperature sensors; thin film sensors; DSB; HEBM; MgO; NbN; THz-QCL device; emission line spectra detection; frequency 3.1 THz; heat sink; local oscillator; metal-metal waveguide type; methanol detection; size 3 nm; spectroscopic Allan time; superconducting low-noise hot electron bolometer receiver; temperature 1200 K; temperature 15 K; temperature 810 K; terahertz quantum cascade laser; time 10 s; Current measurement; Measurement by laser beam; Power generation; Power measurement; Quantum cascade lasers; Receivers; Temperature measurement; Atmospheric and astronomical observations; THz quantum cascade laser (QCL); hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Terahertz Science and Technology, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

2156-342X

Type

jour

Filename

7335438