Title :
2.5 THz NbN hot electron mixer with integrated tapered slot antenna
Author :
Svechnikov, S.I. ; Okunev, O.V. ; Yagoubov, P.A. ; Gol´tsman, G.N. ; Voronov, B.M. ; Cherednichenko, S.I. ; Gershenzon, E.M. ; Gerecht, E. ; Musante, C.F. ; Wang, Z. ; Yngvesson, K.S.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Phys., Moscow State Pedagogical Inst., Russia
fDate :
6/1/1997 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
A Hot Electron Bolometer (HEB) mixer for 2.5 THz utilizing a NbN thin film device, integrated with a Broken Linearly Tapered Slot Antenna (BLTSA), has been fabricated and is presently being tested. The NbN HEB device and the antenna were fabricated on a SiO/sub 2/ membrane. A 0.5 micrometer thick SiO/sub 2/ layer was grown by rf magnetron reactive sputtering on a GaAs wafer. The HEB device (phonon-cooled type) was produced as several parallel strips, 1 micrometer wide, from an ultrathin NbN film 4-7 nm thick, that was deposited onto the SiO/sub 2/ layer by dc magnetron reactive sputtering. The BLTSA was photoetched in a multilayer Ti-Au metallization. In order to strengthen the membrane, the front-side of the wafer was coated with a 5 micrometer thick polyimide layer just before the membrane formation. The last operation was anisotropic etching of the GaAs in a mixture of HNO/sub 3/ and H/sub 2/O/sub 2/.
Keywords :
bolometers; etching; hot carriers; niobium compounds; slot antennas; sputter deposition; submillimetre wave antennas; submillimetre wave mixers; superconducting device testing; superconducting microwave devices; superconducting thin films; 0.5 mum; 1 mum; 2.5 THz; 4 to 7 nm; 5 mum; GaAs; GaAs wafer; HNO/sub 3/-H/sub 2/O/sub 2/; HNO/sub 3/-H/sub 2/O/sub 2/ mixture; NbN hot electron mixer; NbN thin film device; NbN-TiAu-SiO/sub 2/-GaAs; SiO/sub 2/ membrane; anisotropic etching; broken linearly tapered slot antenna; fabrication; hot electron bolometer mixer; integrated tapered slot antenna; multilayer Ti-Au metallization; phonon-cooled device; photoetching; polyimide layer; rf magnetron reactive sputtering; testing; Biomembranes; Bolometers; Electrons; Gallium arsenide; Magnetic anisotropy; Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy; Slot antennas; Sputtering; Testing; Thin film devices;
Journal_Title :
Applied Superconductivity, IEEE Transactions on
