NbN hot electron superconducting mixers for 100 GHz operation

Author

Gol´tsman, G.N. ; Karasik, B.S. ; Okunev, O.V. ; Dzardanov, A.L. ; Gershenzon, E.M. ; Ekstrom, H. ; Jacobsson, S. ; Kollberg, E.

Author_Institution

Moscow State Pedagogical Inst., Russia

Volume

5

Issue

2

fYear

1995

fDate

6/1/1995 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

3065

Lastpage

3068

Abstract

NbN is a promising superconducting material for hot-electron superconducting mixers with an IF bandwidth larger than 1 GHz. In the 1OO GHz frequency range, the following parameters were obtained for 50 /spl Aring/ thick NbN films at 4.2 K: receiver noise temperature (DSB) /spl sim/1000 K; conversion loss /spl sim/10 dB; IF bandwidth /spl sim/1 GHz; and local oscillator power /spl sim/1 /spl mu/W. An increase of the critical current of the NbN film, increased working temperature, and a better mixer matching may allow a broader IF bandwidth up to 2 GHz, reduced conversion losses down to 3-5 dB and a receiver noise temperature (DSB) down to 200-300 K.<>

Keywords

critical current density (superconductivity); millimetre wave mixers; millimetre wave receivers; niobium compounds; superconducting device noise; superconducting device testing; superconducting microwave devices; superconducting thin films; type II superconductors; -10 dB; 1 GHz; 1 muW; 100 GHz; 4.2 K; IF bandwidth; NbN; conversion loss; critical current; hot electron superconducting mixers; local oscillator power; mixer matching; receiver noise temperature; superconducting thin films; working temperature; Bandwidth; Critical current; Electrons; Frequency conversion; Local oscillators; Mixers; Superconducting device noise; Superconducting films; Superconducting materials; Temperature distribution;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Applied Superconductivity, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1051-8223

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/77.403239

Filename

403239