Microwave heterodyne receiver based on AlGaAs/GaAs 2DEG bolometer

A hot-electron bolometric mixer (heterodyne detector), which employs the nonlinearities of a heated two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) medium in a AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure, was designed and characterized in the 60 GHz to 2.5 THz frequency range. Mixing experiments were performed at frequencies of ~ 100 GHz and at a temperature of 77K which resulted in a measured gain bandwidth to be no less than 8.1 GHz, an internal conversion loss of 21 dB, and an optimal local oscillator power of 0.25 μW/μm². We argue that such hot electron bolometers are promising for the future of THz detection technologies.