Frequency Conversion in High-Tc Superconductor Microwave Circuits

Experimental investigations of the nonlinear dynamic response of narrow planar strip conductors made from epitaxially grown high-Tc superconductors (HTS) have been performed. Frequency conversion due to these nonlinear effects were studied by means of measurements with both CW as well as impulsive pumpsignals. The results clearly indicate that an efficient frequency conversion is in the stationary case prevented by "slow" thermal effects, but can sucessfully be realized in short time-intervals, where thermal effects can be neglected. The latter has practical impacts e.g. for the realization of samplers and correlators.