Self-pumped HTS Josephson heterodyne tunable mixer

Abstract

Experimental evaluation of a high-temperature superconducting Josephson heterodyne mixer based on a 'resistive-SQUID' configuration is reported. The device consists of two YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7−x step-edge Josephson junctions connected via a small resistor in an otherwise superconducting loop. It has been previously shown to generate a heterodyne oscillation, which is frequency-tunable by a control current through the resistor. Under certain conditions, this device can operate as a frequency-tunable heterodyne mixer (down-converter) in the presence of an RF signal. In this paper, we describe the operation of the autonomous Josephson mixer-local oscillator device and present the experimental results on the mixer performances in terms of the junction current-voltage characteristics, the frequency tunability, linearity, and dynamic range as well as their temperature dependence for signal frequencies from 1 to 5 GHz.

High-<i>T_c</i> Superconducting Electronic Devices Based on YBCO Step-Edge Grain Boundary Junctions

“…This device provides heterodyne local oscillator (LO) output and RF signal down-conversion that is frequency-tunable. Mixing of microwave frequencies between 1 to 5 GHz and intermediate frequencies (IF) frequencies between 100 MHz to 5 GHz were observed [37], [38].…”

Detection of Coherent Terahertz Radiation from a High-Temperature Superconductor Josephson Junction by a Semiconductor Quantum-Dot Detector

“…The overall power dissipated by the individual HTS JJ is I C V JJ , with the maximum V JJ limited by I C R N . Part of this power is dissipated as Joule heating, and only a fraction, typically a few picowatts, is converted into coherent radiation [7,8]. In a planar HTS JJ, most of the coherent radiation remains inside the substrate, and only a small part is radiated into the environment because of mismatch of the dielectric constants between the substrate material and air or lens, and low coupling efficiency of the radiation of an individual JJ to the planar antenna.…”

Demonstration of a Portable HTS MMIC Microwave Receiver Front-End

“…IGH temperature superconducting (HTS) thin-films have ultra-low surface resistance values at microwave frequencies, which have been applied to make high-Q resonators and "super filters" with superior performance [1][2][3][4]. Novel nonlinear high-frequency devices, such as oscillators and mixers [5][6][7][8], based on the low-noise Josephson junctions have also been developed and successfully integrated on-chip with HTS filters recently [9][10][11]. These microwave filters and Josephson junction devices are mainly being developed for wireless communication front-end receiver systems.…”