Analysis of the Broad IF-Band Performance of MgB<sub>2</sub> HEB Mixers

Acharya, Narendra; Novoselov, Evgenii; Cherednichenko, Serguei

doi:10.1109/tthz.2019.2945203

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…14, which was based on an HPCVD, 5 nm film with a T c of 31 K. The T DSB rec of this mixer increases by 75% at 20 K. A similar T DSB rec (1000 K) at 1.6 THz together with a NBW of 13 GHz was achieved in Ref. 15. The results in Refs.…”

supporting

confidence: 59%

Low noise MgB2 hot electron bolometer mixer operated at 5.3 THz and at 20 K

Gan

Mirzaei

Silva

et al. 2021

Applied Physics Letters

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We have demonstrated a low noise superconducting MgB 2 hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixer working at the frequency of 5.3 terahertz (THz) with 20 K operation temperature. The bolometer consists of a 7 nm thick MgB 2 submicrometer bridge contacted with a spiral antenna to couple THz radiation through a high resistive Si lens, and it has a superconducting critical temperature of 38 K. By using hot/cold blackbody loads and a Mylar beam splitter all in vacuum and applying a 5.25 THz far-infrared gas laser as a local oscillator, we measured a minimal double sideband receiver noise temperature of 3960 K at the LO power of 9.5 lW. This can be further reduced to 2920 K if a Si lens with an antireflection coating optimized at this frequency and a 3 lm beam splitter are used. The measured intermediate frequency (IF) noise bandwidth is 9.5 GHz. The low noise, wide IF bandwidth mixers, which can be operated in a compact, low dissipation Stirling cooler, are more suitable for space applications than the existing HEB mixers. Furthermore, we likely observed a signature of the double-gap in MgB 2 by comparing current-voltage curves pumped at 5.3 and 1.6 THz.

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confidence: 59%

Low noise MgB2 hot electron bolometer mixer operated at 5.3 THz and at 20 K

Gan

Mirzaei

Silva

et al. 2021

Applied Physics Letters

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“…A combination of both a low of 930 K at 1.6 THz and a high NBW of 11 GHz in an MgB2 HEB mixer at 5 K was reported in [15], which was based on an HPCVD, 5 nm film with a of 31 K. The of this mixer increases by 75 % at 20 K. A similar (1000 K) at 1.6 THz together with a NBW of 13 GHz was achieved in [16]. The results in [14][15][16] raise the interesting question of whether it is suitable for the operation at 20 K, a temperature which is attractive for space applications because of the availability of the compact, low mass, low dissipation, and space qualified Stirling coolers [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 66%

5.3 THz MgB2 hot electron bolometer mixer operated at 20 K

Gao

Gan

Mirzaei

et al. 2022

Millimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy XI

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Heterodyne receivers combining a NbN HEB mixer with a local oscillator (LO) are the work horse for high resolution ( ≥10 6 ) spectroscopic observations at supra-terahertz frequencies. We report an MgB2 HEB mixer working at 5.3 THz with 20 K operation temperature based on a previously published paper [Y. Gan et al, Appl. Phys. Lett., 119, 202601 (2021)]. The HEB consists of a 7 nm thick MgB2 submicron-bridge contacted with a spiral antenna. It has a Tc of 38.4 K. By using hot/cold blackbody loads and a Mylar beam splitter all in vacuum, and applying a 5.25 THz FIR gas laser as the LO, we measured a minimal DSB receiver noise temperature of 3960 K. The latter gives a DSB mixer noise temperature of 1470 K. This sensitivity is 28 times better than a room temperature Schottky mixer at 4.7 THz, but about 2.5 times less sensitive than an NbN HEB mixer. The latter must be operated around 4 K. The IF noise bandwidth is about 10 GHz, which is 2.5-3 times larger than an NbN HEB. With further optimization, such MgB2 HEBs are expected to reach a better sensitivity. That the low noise, wide IF bandwidth MgB2 HEB mixers can be operated in a compact, low dissipation 20 K Stirling cooler can significantly reduce the cost and complexity of heterodyne instruments and therefore facilitate new space missions.

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“…Recently, we managed to deposit 5 nm thick MgB 2 films with a critical temperature >30 K and ρ n comparable to that in thick films. Furthermore, in such thin films, a quasiparticle relaxation time is measured to be τ 0 = 12 ps [25], and which all together suggests that MgB 2 nanowires might provide a solution for high speed photo detection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Low kinetic inductance superconducting MgB₂ nanowires with a 130 ps relaxation time for single-photon detection applications

Cherednichenko

Acharya

Novoselov

et al. 2021

Supercond. Sci. Technol.

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Properties of superconducting nanowires set the performance level for superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs). Reset time in commonly employed large area SNSPDs, 1-10 ns, is known to be limited by the nanowire's kinetic inductance to the load impedance ratio. On the other hand, reduction of the kinetic inductance in small area (waveguide integrated) SNSPDs prevents biasing them close to the critical current due to latching into a permanent resistive state. In order to reduce the reset time in SNSPDs, superconducting nanowires with both low kinetic inductance and fast electron energy relaxation are required. In this paper, we report on a study of kinetic inductance in narrow (15-100 nm) and long (up to 120 µm) superconducting MgB 2 nanowires made from 5 nm thick films, offering such combination of properties. Such films were grown using hybrid physical chemical vapor deposition, resulting in a critical temperature of ∼32 K, and a switch current density of 5 × 10 7 A cm −2 (at 4.8 K). Using microwave reflectometry, we measured a kinetic inductance of L k0 (4.8 K) = 1.3-1.6 pH/□ regardless of the nanowire width, which results in a magnetic field penetration depth of ∼90 nm. These values are very close to those in pristine MgB 2 . We showed that after excitations by a 50 fs pulsed laser the reset time in 35 nm × 120 µm MgB 2 nanowires is 130 ps, which is more than a factor of 10 shorter than in NbN nanowires of similar length-to-width ratios. Depending on the bias current, such MgB 2 nanowires function as single-, double, or triple-photon detectors for both visible (λ = 630 nm) and infrared (λ = 1550 nm) photons, with a dark count rate of <10 cps. Although the apparent photon detection efficiency seems so far to be low, further technological advances (uniform nanowire width, smaller thickness, increasing the switching current closer to the pair-breaking current) may improve this figure of merit.

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Analysis of the Broad IF-Band Performance of MgB₂ HEB Mixers

Cited by 5 publications

References 34 publications

Low noise MgB2 hot electron bolometer mixer operated at 5.3 THz and at 20 K

Low noise MgB2 hot electron bolometer mixer operated at 5.3 THz and at 20 K

5.3 THz MgB2 hot electron bolometer mixer operated at 20 K

Low kinetic inductance superconducting MgB₂ nanowires with a 130 ps relaxation time for single-photon detection applications

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Analysis of the Broad IF-Band Performance of MgB2 HEB Mixers

Cited by 5 publications

References 34 publications

Low noise MgB2 hot electron bolometer mixer operated at 5.3 THz and at 20 K

Low noise MgB2 hot electron bolometer mixer operated at 5.3 THz and at 20 K

5.3 THz MgB2 hot electron bolometer mixer operated at 20 K

Low kinetic inductance superconducting MgB2 nanowires with a 130 ps relaxation time for single-photon detection applications

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Product

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Analysis of the Broad IF-Band Performance of MgB₂ HEB Mixers

Low kinetic inductance superconducting MgB₂ nanowires with a 130 ps relaxation time for single-photon detection applications