An SIS-based sideband-separating heterodyne mixer optimized for the 600 to 720 GHz band
Abstract
The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) is the largest radio astronomical enterprise ever proposed. When completed, each of its 64 constituting radio-telescopes will be able to hold 10 heterodyne receivers covering the spectroscopic windows allowed by the atmospheric transmission at the construction site, the altiplanos of the northern Chilean Andes. In contrast to the sideband-separating (2SB) receivers being developed at low frequencies, double-side-band (DSB) receivers are being developed for the highest two spectroscopic windows (bands 9 and 10). Despite of the well known advantages of 2SB mixers over their DSB counterparts, they have not been implemented at the highest-frequency bands as the involved dimensions for some of the radio frequency components are prohibitory small. However, the current state-of-the-art micromachining technology has proved that the structures necessary for this development are attainable. Here we report the design, modeling, realization, and characterization of a 2SB mixer for band 9 of ALMA (600 to 720 GHz). At the heart of the mixer, two superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) junctions are used as mixing elements. The constructed instrument presents an excellent performance as shown by two important figures of merit: noise temperature of the system and side band ratio, both of them within ALMA specifications.
Additional Information
Copyright © Institute of Physics and IOP Publishing Limited 2008. Accepted papers received: 18 January 2008. Published online: 19 March 2008. European Conference on Applied Superconductivity, 8th (EUCAS'07), Brussels, Belgium, 16–20 September 2007. Journal of Physics: Conference Series Volume 97, 2008. http://www.iop.org/EJ/toc/1742-6596/97/1Files
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 9842
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:MENjpcs08
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2008-03-21Created from EPrint's datestamp field
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2022-07-12Created from EPrint's last_modified field