We have developed and realized a novel multichroic seashell antenna with internal bandpass filters by resonant slots and cold-electron bolometers (CEB). Slots and CEBs are connected by coplanar waveguides (CPW) instead of microstrip lines to realize the most reliable single-layer technology. The internal resonance is organized by a series resonance of slots with CPW and capacitances of superconductor/insulator/normal (SIN) tunnel junctions. In contrast, a conventional multichroic pixel consists of a wideband sinuous antenna coupled to TES detectors by long microstrip lines with overlap and external on-chip filters for different frequency bands. A common problem with a conventional multichroic pixel is that the beam width is frequency dependent for different frequency bands. Besides that, this system with external filters is quite large and includes long microstrip lines with unavoidable overlap and rater high losses. The multichroic seashell antenna with internal resonances avoids all these problems. The main advantage of this antenna is an opportunity to tune separate pairs of phased slots for each frequency band independently. We used pairs of λ/2 slots for 75 and 105 GHz, connected by CPW to CEBs. The connection of CPW to slots was shifted closer to the end of slots for proper RF matching. Each CEB included two SIN junctions and an absorber. SIN junctions had capacitances of 77 and 67 fF. Wave impedance of the antenna was near 50 Ohm and resistance of the absorber was matched to this value. RF testing was done at 314 mK irradiating this chip by frequency sweep of a generator from 78–118 GHz. The response curves have shown clear resonances around 75 and 105 GHz with a quality factor around 5. These experiments confirmed that the seashell antenna with the internal filters by resonant slots and CEBs could effectively be used for creating multiband elements.

A novel type of the seashell slot antenna with internal filters by the capacitance of resonant cold-electron bolometers (RCEB) and kinetic inductance of the NbN superconducting nanostrip has been realized for multifrequency pixels. Seashell antenna gives the opportunity to connect opposite slots by coplanar waveguides (CPW) instead of microstrip lines (MSL). A conventional multifrequency pixel combines a wideband antenna and narrowband filters with long microstrip lines with unavoidable losses and overlaps. Another problem is the frequency dependent beam width due to a fixed pixel diameter for multiple frequencies. The main advantage of the seashell antenna with nano-filters is independent tuning of the separate pairs of slots for each frequency avoiding frequency dependence of the beam width. We used λ/2 slots for 75 and 105 GHz, feeding by CPW near the end of slots for RF matching. Each RCEB includes two SIN (Superconductor-Insulator-Normal) tunnel junctions with a nano-absorber and NbN kinetic inductance of 450 or 310 pH. SIN junctions had capacitances of 9.3 and 7.2 fF and absorber matched to a wave impedance of the antenna near 50 Ohm. Kinetic inductance value was estimated at the level of 35 pH/sq. RF testing was done at 300 mK irradiating this chip by sweep generator from 60 to 120 GHz. The response curves showed clear resonances at 75 and 105 GHz with a quality factor of 10 and 7. These experiments confirm that the seashell antenna with the internal RCEB filters can be used for frequency selection in compact multiband pixels.

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