Development of phonon cooled hot-electron-bolometers (HEB) for applications in THz radioastronomy

Author

Scherer, T.A. ; Frommberger, M. ; Schicke, M. ; Schuster, K.

Author_Institution

Inst. de Radioastron. Millimetrique, St-Martin-d´´ Heres, France

fYear

2004

fDate

27 Sept.-1 Oct. 2004

Firstpage

447

Lastpage

448

Abstract

Heterodyne detection of weak THz signals can be obtained with ultrathin superconducting microbridge bolometers where frequency mixing is achieved by rapid relaxation of hot electrons in resistive hot spots. These devices do not suffer from the superconducting band gap limit of conventional SIS mixers. Phonon cooled HEBs from NbN allow mixing with IF bandwidths up to several GHz. We discuss NbN thin film optimization and present characterization methods which allow to investigate the phonon cooling path.

Keywords

Raman spectra; astronomical instruments; bolometers; niobium compounds; radioastronomy; submillimetre astronomy; submillimetre wave mixers; superconducting microbridges; superconducting mixers; superconducting thin films; IF bandwidths; NbN; NbN thin film; THz radioastronomy; frequency mixing; heterodyne detection; hot electron bolometers; phonon cooling; rapid hot electron relaxation; resistive hot spots; superconducting band gap; terahertz radioastronomy; ultrathin superconducting microbridge bolometers; weak THz signals; Bandwidth; Bolometers; Cooling; Electrons; Frequency; Optimization methods; Phonons; Photonic band gap; Superconducting devices; Superconducting thin films;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Infrared and Millimeter Waves, 2004 and 12th International Conference on Terahertz Electronics, 2004. Conference Digest of the 2004 Joint 29th International Conference on

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8490-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ICIMW.2004.1422156

Filename

1422156