Terahertz emission and detection both based on high-Tc superconductors: Towards an integrated receiver

Abstract

We have combined a stand-alone Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 intrinsic Josephson junction stack, emitting terahertz radiation, with a YBa2Cu3O7 grain boundary Josephson junction acting as detector. The detector is mounted on a lens, positioned 1.2 cm away from the emitter on a similar lens. With the emitter radiating at 0.5 THz, we observed up to 7 Shapiro steps on the current-voltage characteristic of the detector. The ac current induced in this junction was 0.9 mA, and the dissipated power was 1.8 μW. The setup, although far from being optimized, may be considered as a first step towards an integrated high-Tc receiver.

Generation of electromagnetic waves from 0.3 to 1.6 terahertz with a high-Tc superconducting Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ intrinsic Josephson junction emitter

“…The intrinsic Josephson junction (IJJ) terahertz (THz) emitter (IJJ-THz emitter) based on the IJJs present in the high-T c superconductor Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8þd (Bi2212) [1][2][3] has been developed experimentally and theoretically. [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46] So far, its demonstrated radiation characteristics are the f range from 0.3 to 1.0 THz, 4,22,23 the maximum P of $30 lW, [19][20][21][22] and coherent, continuous-wave emission with a spectral width of less than 0.5 GHz. 12,13 Recently, by synchronizing the emissions from a three-mesa array, P $ 610 lW was reported.…”

“…The observed emission P from stand-alone mesas was at least one order of magnitude higher than from mesas with Bi2212 substrates. 19,21,22 Here, we describe a simple device structure based on the stand-alone mesa that is easy to fabricate, assemble, and operate, and produces highly reproducible high-power emission that is tunable from 0.3 to 1.6 THz.…”

Three-Dimensional Simulations of the Electrothermal and Terahertz Emission Properties ofBi2Sr2CaCu2Rudau1, Wieland2, Langer3 et al. 2016Phys. Rev. AppliedSelf Cite300270View full textAdd to dashboardCite

“…Emission frequencies range from 0.3 to 2.4 THz. For the best stacks, an emission power P e in the range of tens of µW has been achieved 17,19,20,32,33 , and arrays of mesas showed emission with P e up to 0.61 mW 19 . The physics of the huge IJJ stacks is affected by Joule heating 1, 3,5,6,8,13,18,22,26,30,49,52,54,55,63 .…”

“…IJJ stacks, containing 500 -2000 junctions, have been patterned as mesas but also as bare IJJ stacks contacted by Au layers (GBG structures) 16,17,20,24 and as all-superconducting structures 11 . Emission frequencies range from 0.3 to 2.4 THz.…”

Control of circularly polarized THz wave from intrinsic Josephson junctions by local heating

“…Stacks of these natural Josephson junctions, which are referred to as intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJs), can generate an AC Josephson current in the THz frequency range by application of a voltage, and the THz wave emission is attributed to the generation of this current. Intense THz emissions have been reported for IJJs fabricated in a mesa geometry, which itself behaves as a cavity resonator, and thus, a number of studies on such IJJ mesas have been carried out both experimentally [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] and theoretically [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. However, in the previous studies, little attention was given to the state of the polarization of the THz waves.…”