Bin, M. and Gaidis, M. C. and Zmuidzinas, J. and Phillips, T. G. and LeDuc, H. G. (1996) Low-noise 1 THz niobium superconducting tunnel junction mixer with a normal metal tuning circuit. Applied Physics Letters, 68 (12). pp. 1714-1716. ISSN 0003-6951. doi:10.1063/1.115915. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:BINapl96
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Abstract
We describe a 1 THz quasioptical SIS mixer which uses a twin-slot antenna, an antireflection-coated silicon hyperhemispherical lens, Nb/Al-oxide/Nb tunnel junctions, and an aluminum normal-metal tuning circuit in a two-junction configuration. Since the mixer operates substantially above the gap frequency of niobium (nu >~ 2 Delta/h ~ 700 GHz), a normal metal is used in the tuning circuit in place of niobium to reduce the Ohmic loss. The frequency response of the device was measured using a Fourier transform spectrometer and agrees reasonably well with the theoretical prediction. At 1042 GHz, the uncorrected double-sideband receiver noise temperature is 840 K when the physical temperature of the mixer is 2.5 K. This is the first SIS mixer which outperforms GaAs Schottky diode mixers by a large margin at 1 THz.
Item Type: | Article | ||||||
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Additional Information: | Copyright © 2006 American Institute of Physics. Received 6 November 1995; accepted 11 January 1996. We thank Paul Stockman and Geoff Blake for their assistance with the far-IR laser measurements, and Jacob Kooi for help with the 800 GHz measurements. This work was supported by NASA Grants NAG2-744 and NAGW-107, the NASA/JPL Center for Space Microelectronics Technology,and a NSF Presidential Young Investigator grant to J.Zmuidzinas. | ||||||
Subject Keywords: | ALUMINIUM OXIDES; HETERODYNE RECEIVERS; INFRARED SPECTRA; MICROWAVE SPECTRA; MIXERS; NIOBIUM; NOISE; SUPERCONDUCTING DEVICES; TUNNEL DIODES | ||||||
Issue or Number: | 12 | ||||||
DOI: | 10.1063/1.115915 | ||||||
Record Number: | CaltechAUTHORS:BINapl96 | ||||||
Persistent URL: | https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:BINapl96 | ||||||
Usage Policy: | No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided. | ||||||
ID Code: | 3680 | ||||||
Collection: | CaltechAUTHORS | ||||||
Deposited By: | Lindsay Cleary | ||||||
Deposited On: | 27 Jun 2006 | ||||||
Last Modified: | 08 Nov 2021 20:11 |
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