Application of Superconducting Hot-Electron Bolometer Mixers for Terahertz-Band Astronomy

Maezawa, Hiroyuki

doi:10.1587/transele.e98.c.196

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…As a result, THz waves have tremendous application capacity in areas ranging from the detection of dangerous and illicit substances [4,11,[20][21][22][23] to diagnosis and treatment of diseases in medicine [18,19,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. Moreover, this frequency band is of a special importance for spectroscopy in astrophysics [31][32][33][34][35][36] for the reason that many astrophysical objects emit in the THz range of the spectrum. In addition, THz technology is promising for wireless communication systems as a replacement for transmitters and receivers operating in high-frequency and microwave ranges, because it can potentially increase the speed of data transfer by hundreds of times [37][38][39][40][41][42].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancement of terahertz photoconductive antenna operation by optical nanoantennas

Lepeshov

Gorodetsky

Krasnok

et al. 2016

Laser & Photonics Reviews

146

121

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Photoconductive antennas are promising sources of terahertz radiation that is widely used for spectroscopy, characterization, and imaging of biological objects, deep space studies, scanning of surfaces, and detection of potentially hazardous substances. These antennas are compact and allow for generation of both ultrabroadband pulses and tunable continuous wave terahertz signals at room temperatures, with no need for high‐power optical sources. However, such antennas have relatively low energy conversion efficiency of femtosecond laser pulses or two close pump wavelengths (photomixers) into the pulsed and continuous terahertz radiation, correspondingly. Recently, an approach to solving this problem that involves known methods of nanophotonics applied to terahertz photoconductive antennas and photomixers has been proposed. This approach comprises the use of optical nanoantennas for enhancing the absorption of pump laser radiation in the antenna gap, reducing the lifetime of photoexcited carriers, and improving the antenna thermal efficiency. This Review is intended to systematize the main results obtained by researchers in this promising field of hybrid optical‐to‐terahertz photoconductive antennas and photomixers. We summarize the main results on hybrid THz antennas, compare the approaches to their implementation, and offer further perspectives of their development including an application of all‐dielectric nanoantennas instead of plasmonic ones.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancement of terahertz photoconductive antenna operation by optical nanoantennas

Lepeshov

Gorodetsky

Krasnok

et al. 2016

Laser & Photonics Reviews

146

121

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“…Unlike the formal procedure just described, Equation (5) indicates that I LO (and not P LO ) is the THz input, P LO being deduced at the end of the calculation. Therefore, it is not possible to perform a calculation that will accurately give a result ascribed to a given P LO value.…”

Section: Solving Heb Master Equationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The concept then fruitfully evolved [2], rather in favor of low T C devices to start with, mainly Nb and NbN, exhibiting the diffusion cooled and phonon cooled processes, respectively [3]. In fact, the research on HEBs was mainly driven by immediate applications to THz radio astronomy as mixers for heterodyne reception [4,5]. Besides, YBCO was attractive in several respects, e.g., operating temperature with light cryogenics, or fast response, due to its very short electron-phonon relaxation time τ ep , in the ps range [6][7][8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

THz Mixing with High-TC Hot Electron Bolometers: A Performance Modeling Assessment for Y-Ba-Cu-O Devices

et al. 2019

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Hot electron bolometers (HEB) made from high-TC superconducting YBa2Cu3O7–x (YBCO) oxide nano-constrictions are promising THz mixers, due to their expected wide bandwidth, large mixing gain, and low intrinsic noise. The challenge for YBCO resides, however, in the chemical reactivity of the material and the related aging effects. In this paper, we model and simulate the frequency dependent performance of YBCO HEBs operating as THz mixers. We recall first the main hypotheses of our hot spot model taking into account both the RF frequency effects in the YBCO superconducting transition and the nano-constriction impedance at THz frequencies. The predicted performance up to 4 THz is given in terms of double sideband noise temperature TDSB and conversion gain G. At 2.5 THz for instance, TDSB  1000 K and G 6 dB could be achieved at 12.5 W local oscillator power. We then consider a standoff target detection scheme and examine the feasibility with YBCO devices. For instance, detection at 3 m through cotton cloth in passive imaging mode could be readily achieved in moderate humidity conditions with 10 K resolution.

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“…Currently, the most developed are two types of superconducting mixers: SIS mixers [1][2][3][4][5][6] for frequencies from 0.2 to 1.2 THz and hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers [7][8][9][10][11] for frequencies of 1-5 THz. Both types of mixers are mainly used in radio astronomy, where low receiver noise is a critical issue.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

THz Range Low-Noise SIS Receivers for Space and Ground-Based Radio Astronomy

et al. 2021

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We report on research in the field of low-noise receiving systems in the sub-terahertz (THz) range, carried out in recent years, aimed at developing receivers with quantum sensitivity for implementation in space and ground-based radio telescopes. Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) mixers based on high-quality tunnel junctions are the key elements of the most sensitive sub-THz heterodyne receivers. Motivations and physical background for technology improvement and optimization, as well as fabrication details, are described. This article presents the results of the SIS receiver developments for the 211–275 GHz and 790–950 GHz frequency ranges with a noise temperature in the double sideband (DSB) mode of approximTELY 20 K and 200 K, respectively. These designs and achievements are implemented in the development of the receiving systems for the Russian Space Agency mission “Millimetron”, and for the ground-based APEX (Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment) telescope.

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Application of Superconducting Hot-Electron Bolometer Mixers for Terahertz-Band Astronomy

Cited by 5 publications

References 58 publications

Enhancement of terahertz photoconductive antenna operation by optical nanoantennas

Enhancement of terahertz photoconductive antenna operation by optical nanoantennas

THz Mixing with High-TC Hot Electron Bolometers: A Performance Modeling Assessment for Y-Ba-Cu-O Devices

THz Range Low-Noise SIS Receivers for Space and Ground-Based Radio Astronomy

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