Low-noise 1 THz niobium superconducting tunnel junction mixer with a normal metal tuning circuit
Bin, M. ; Gaidis, M. C. ; Zmuidzinas, J. ; Phillips, T. G. ; LeDuc, H. G.
Woodbury, NY : American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Published 1996
Woodbury, NY : American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Published 1996
| ISSN: |
1077-3118
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| Source: |
AIP Digital Archive
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| Topics: |
Physics
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| Notes: |
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 (ν(approximately-greater-than)2Δ/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. © 1996 American Institute of Physics.
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| Type of Medium: |
Electronic Resource
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| URL: |