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Low noise SIS mixer for 230 GHz receivers of plateau de bure interferometer

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Abstract

We present a SIS mixer developed for 200 – 250 GHz band receivers of Plateau de Bure Interferometer. We demonstrate the minimum DSB receiver noise of 20 K at 220 GHz. The average receiver noise of 25 K is possible in 200 – 250 GHz range. The receiver conversion gain and output noise instability of 10−4 on the time scale of 1 minute is comparable with the Shottky receivers performance. The minimum measured SIS mixer noise of about 10 K is close to the quantum limit. The waveguide SIS mixer with a single backshort has two junction array with inductively tuned junctions. The Nb/Al Oxide/Nb SIS junctions are 2.24 µm2 each with the Josephson critical current density of 3.2 KA/cm2. The thermal properties of the SIS mixer are studied. The mixer band of the low noise operation is in a good agreement with the design requirements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique, Domaine Universitaire de Grenoble France, 300, rue de la Piscine

    A. Karpov, J. Blondel, K. H. Gundlach & D. Billion-Pierron

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  1. A. Karpov
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  2. J. Blondel
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  3. K. H. Gundlach
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  4. D. Billion-Pierron
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Karpov, A., Blondel, J., Gundlach, K.H. et al. Low noise SIS mixer for 230 GHz receivers of plateau de bure interferometer. Int J Infrared Milli Waves 18, 301–317 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02677922

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02677922

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