Low-Tc superconducting tunnel junction submillimeter wave receiver

Stephane M. X. Claude; Brian N. Ellison; A. Jones; David N. Matheson; L. T. Little; Steven R. Davies

doi:10.1117/12.181008

2 July 1994 Low-T_c superconducting tunnel junction submillimeter wave receiver

Stephane M. X. Claude, Brian N. Ellison, A. Jones, David N. Matheson, L. T. Little, Steven R. Davies

Proceedings Volume 2160, Superconductive Devices and Circuits; (1994) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.181008
Event: OE/LASE '94, 1994, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Abstract

A low Tc Pb alloy Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) tunnel junction heterodyne receiver has been constructed for astronomical use and tested over the frequency range of 400 to 540 GHz. Various alloy structures have been investigated in order to allow the production of small area SIS junctions with stable electrical characteristics and resistance to stress on cooling from 300 K to 4.2 K. Improvements in photolithography and thin film deposition techniques have been made that allow the fabrication of reliable sub-micron area junctions using suspended photoresist stencil and E-beam evaporation techniques. A single sub-micron area junction is mounted in a reduced height two tuner waveguide structure, which provides an optimum impedance match between the junction and the received signal. Performance measurements made with the receiver installed on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, Hawaii, show a total system double sideband noise equivalent temperature of 160 K at 460 GHz and 220 K at 490 GHz, measured in a 1 GHz instantaneous IF bandwidth centered at 4 GHz. The receiver demonstrates that Pb alloy tunnel junctions provide excellent sensitivity at submillimetre wavelengths and are sufficiently stable and reliable to allow use at a remote observing site.

Citation Download Citation

Stephane M. X. Claude, Brian N. Ellison, A. Jones, David N. Matheson, L. T. Little, and Steven R. Davies "Low-T_c superconducting tunnel junction submillimeter wave receiver", Proc. SPIE 2160, Superconductive Devices and Circuits, (2 July 1994); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.181008

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KEYWORDS

Receivers

Lead

Electrodes

Telescopes

Photoresist materials

Gold

Superconductors

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