A 1.4 THz Quasi‐Optical NbN Superconducting HEB Mixer Developed for the DATE5 Telescope

Author

Zhou, K.M. ; Miao, W. ; Lou, Z. ; Hu, J. ; Li, S.L. ; Zhang, W. ; Shi, S.C. ; Lefevre, R. ; Delorme, Y. ; Vacelet, T.

Author_Institution

Key Lab. of Radio Astron., Purple Mountain Obs., Nanjing, China

Volume

25

Issue

3

fYear

2015

fDate

Jun-15

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

5

Abstract

In this paper, the performance of a twin-slot antenna coupled NbN superconducting HEB mixer based on a new device fabrication process is thoroughly investigated. The measured lowest double-sideband receiver noise temperature is about 600 K at 1.3 THz, and reduced to 300 K after eliminating all the quasi-optical losses. The spectral response of the HEB mixer is characterized by a Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) and its calibrated spectrum is in good agreement with the simulated one. In addition, the far-field beam pattern of this HEB mixer is characterized by a near-field measurement technique. The measured results agree well with the simulations too.

Keywords

Fourier transform spectrometers; antennas; calibration; niobium compounds; superconducting devices; type II superconductors; DATE5 telescope; Fourier transform spectrometer; NbN; calibrated spectrum; device fabrication process; far-field beam pattern; frequency 1.3 THz; frequency 1.4 THz; low-double-sideband receiver noise temperature; near-field measurement technique; quasioptical NbN superconducting HEB mixer; quasioptical losses; twin-slot antenna coupled NbN superconducting HEB mixer; Antenna measurements; Antennas; Mixers; Noise; Receivers; Silicon; Temperature measurement; Beam pattern; FTS measurement; receiver noise temperature; superconducting HEB mixer;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Applied Superconductivity, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1051-8223

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TASC.2014.2378051

Filename

6975136