Waveguide hot electron bolometer mixer development for upGREAT

Pütz, P.; Büchel, D.; Jacobs, K.; Schultz, Michael; Honingh, C. E.; Stützki, J.

doi:10.1109/irmmw-thz.2014.6956148

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…However, due to their physical working principle, they inherently possess a roll-off of their gain bandwidth, which can be associated with the cooling rate of "hot" electrons [2]. Consequently, the usable IF band of state-of-the-art receivers still remains limited to typically 0.2-5 GHz [3], [4], [5], which may not be sufficient for spectroscopic observations of distant, fast moving objects due to spectral line broadening and restricts the efficient use of observation time. In recent years, the prospective use of MgB 2 with high critical temperature (Tc) of 39 K for HEB mixer applications has become a promising candidate to boost the IF bandwidth performance due to its fast thermal relaxation time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduction of Phonon Escape Time for NbN Hot Electron Bolometers by Using GaN Buffer Layers

Krause

Mityashkin

Antipov

et al. 2016

IEEE Trans. THz Sci. Technol.

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In this paper, we investigated the influence of the GaN buffer-layer on the phonon escape time of phonon-cooled hot electron bolometers based on NbN material and compared our findings to conventionally employed Si substrate. The presented experimental setup and operation of the HEB close to the critical temperature of the NbN film allowed for the extraction of phonon escape time in a simplified manner. Two independent experiments were performed at GARD/Chalmers and MSPU on a similar experimental setup at frequencies of approximately 180 and 140 GHz, respectively, and have shown reproducible and consistent results. By fitting the normalized IF measurement data to the heat balance equations, the escape time as fitting parameter has been deduced and amounts to 45 ps for the HEB based on Si substrate as in contrast to a significantly reduced escape time of 18 ps for the HEB utilizing the GaN buffer-layer under the assumption that no additional electron diffusion has taken place. This study indicates a high phonon transmissivity of the NbN-to-GaN interface and a prospective increase of IF bandwidth for HEB made of NbN on GaN buffer layers, which is desirable for future THz HEB heterodyne receivers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduction of Phonon Escape Time for NbN Hot Electron Bolometers by Using GaN Buffer Layers

Krause

Mityashkin

Antipov

et al. 2016

IEEE Trans. THz Sci. Technol.

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“…In the latter IF and noise bandwidth measurements were performed at 1.3 THz with waveguide balanced configuration of the mixers. This represents a significant improvement to commonly used NbN HEBs on silicon substrates [9,10].…”

Section: Signal To Noise Bandwidthmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…However, they continue to suffer from a relatively narrow IF bandwidth, which limits the effectiveness of the heterodyne operation. The typical value of the gain and noise bandwidths for NbN-based HEB mixers on conventional substrates such as sapphire is about 3-4 GHz [7][8][9][10]. Those working in the HEB field know from experience that changes in the embedding of the device does not show up in IF-performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improved bandwidth of a 2 THz hot-electron bolometer heterodyne mixer fabricated on sapphire with a GaN buffer layer

Antipov

Trifonov

Krause

et al. 2019

Supercond. Sci. Technol.

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We report on the signal-to-noise and gain bandwidth of a niobium nitride (NbN) hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixer at 2 THz fabricated on a sapphire substrate with a GaN buffer layer. Two mixers with different DC properties and geometrical dimensions were studied and they demonstrated very close bandwidth performance. The signal-to-noise bandwidth is increased to 8 GHz in comparison to the previous results, obtained without a buffer-layer. The data were taken in a quasi-optical system with the use of the signal-to-noise method, which is close to the signal levels used in actual astrophysical observations. We find an increase of the gain bandwidth to 5 GHz. The results indicate that prior results obtained on a substrate of crystalline GaN can also be obtained on a conventional sapphire substrate with a few micron MOCVD-deposited GaN buffer-layer.

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“…At present,HEB mixers and direct detectors have proved themselves as perfect tools for radioastronomy and terahertz spectroscopy [1][2][3][4]. Frequency independence of the response formation mechanism of an HEB-based detector to radiation within a wide frequency range in conjunction with a sufficiently high sensitivity and relatively small response time [5][6][7][8][9] make the HEB the most attractive candidate for observations above 1 THz.…”

Section: Hot Electron Phenomena In a Superconducting Film: Discovery ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is worth mentioning that being historically the first type of HEB device developed, thephonon-cooled HEB mixer has to date confirmedits suitability for practical heterodyne instruments, e.g. the Heinrich Hertz Telescope [22], the Receiver Lab Telescope [262], APEX [146], SOFIA [4,5], Hershel [1,2].…”

Section: Phonon-cooled Hebmentioning

confidence: 99%

Superconducting hot-electron bolometer: from the discovery of hot-electron phenomena to practical applications

Shurakov

Lobanov

Gol’tsman

2015

Supercond. Sci. Technol.

104

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The discovery of hot-electron phenomena in a thin superconducting film in the last century was followed by numerous experimental studies of its appearance in different materials aiming for a better understanding of the phenomena and consequent implementation of terahertz detection systems for practical applications. In contrast to the competitors such as superconductor-insulator-superconductor tunnel junctions and Schottky diodes, the hot electron bolometer (HEB) did not demonstrate any frequency limitation of the detection mechanism. The latter, in conjunction with a decent performance, rapidly made the HEB mixer the most attractive candidate for heterodyne observations at frequencies above 1 THz. The successful operation of practical instruments (the Heinrich Hertz Telescope, the Receiver Lab Telescope, APEX, SOFIA, Hershel) ensures the importance of the HEB technology despite the lack of rigorous theoretical routine for predicting the performance. In this review, we provide a summary of experimental and theoretical studies devoted to understanding the HEB physics, and an overview of various fabrication routes and materials.

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Waveguide hot electron bolometer mixer development for upGREAT

Cited by 4 publications

References 9 publications

Reduction of Phonon Escape Time for NbN Hot Electron Bolometers by Using GaN Buffer Layers

Reduction of Phonon Escape Time for NbN Hot Electron Bolometers by Using GaN Buffer Layers

Improved bandwidth of a 2 THz hot-electron bolometer heterodyne mixer fabricated on sapphire with a GaN buffer layer

Superconducting hot-electron bolometer: from the discovery of hot-electron phenomena to practical applications

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