Design and Performance of a 3-Junction Series Distributed SIS Mixer for Wide IF Applications

Author

Tong, Cheuk-yu Edward ; Grimes, P.K. ; Barbier, A. ; Schuster, Kay ; Ming-Jye Wang

Author_Institution

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophys., Cambridge, MA, USA

Volume

23

Issue

3

fYear

2013

fDate

41426

Firstpage

1400404

Lastpage

1400404

Abstract

Series distributed superconductor-insulator-superconductor mixers have been used to provide very wide instantaneous bandwidth of operation. In this paper, we explore a design based on a 3-junction array in which the junctions themselves form part of the RF tuning network of the mixer. We have developed mixers based on these designs for use in the 200 and 300 GHz bands. Receivers incorporating these wideband mixers demonstrate very low noise temperature. At a local oscillator frequency of 300 GHz, the lowest measured intermediate frequency noise temperature is about 42 K and the usable intermediate frequency bandwidth extends from 6 to 16.5 GHz. Both the design theory and experimental results are presented.

Keywords

millimetre wave mixers; superconductor-insulator-superconductor mixers; 3-junction array; 3-junction series distributed SIS mixer; RF tuning network; design theory; frequency 200 GHz to 300 GHz; frequency 6 GHz to 6.15 GHz; frequency bandwidth; intermediate frequency noise temperature; local oscillator frequency; low noise temperature; operation bandwidth; superconductor-insulator-superconductor mixers; wideband mixers; Bandwidth; Impedance; Junctions; Mixers; Noise; Receivers; Temperature measurement; Distributed mixer; IF bandwidth; SIS mixer;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Applied Superconductivity, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1051-8223

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TASC.2012.2235517

Filename

6389759