Development of a 0.85 THz Nb-AlN-NbN superconductor-insulator-superconductor mixer

Abstract

China is planning to build a 5-m THz telescope named DATE5 at Dome A in Antarctica. The telescope will operate in 0.85 THz and 1.5 THz frequency bands. A waveguide superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixer is developed for the 0.85 THz frequency band by utilizing parallel-connected tunnel junctions (PCTJ) with Nb/AlN/NbN trilayer and NbTiN/SiO2/Al microstrip tuning circuit on quartz substrate. Its frequency response is measured by a Fourier-transform spectrometer (FTS), showing an FWHM frequency coverage of 762–925 GHz. The measured uncorrected double sideband (DSB) receiver noise temperature is approximately equal to 450 K at 840 GHz. With the vacuum window and beamsplitter losses corrected, the receiver noise temperature is less than five times the quantum-limited noise. Detailed mixer design and measurement results will be presented.