Towards Ultimate Performance of THz Heterodyne Receivers: SIS Frequency Multiplier and Wideband Passive Components

Doctoral thesis, 2016

This thesis focuses on the development of advanced components for the future wideband side band separating and / or multipixel receivers for radio-astronomy with ultimate sensitivity. In this thesis, a novel frequency multiplier based on distributed superconducting tunnel (SIS) junctions has been demonstrated for the first time, taking advantage of the extreme inherent nonlinearity of such device. This practical demonstration is the result of an extensive theoretical exploration and modelling, showing the importance of the reactive quasi-particle tunnel current and its impact on the SIS tunnel junction frequency multiplier. In addition, a novel technique was suggested that allows for the first time direct measurement of the reactive quasi-particle tunnel current. This work comprehends the analysis, design and characterisation of the first frequency multiplier using distributed SIS junctions. The measured output power generated by the distributed SIS junction at the second harmonic of the input frequency were in good agreement with the model. Furthermore, the distributed SIS junction as a frequency multiplier were for the first time able to pump an SIS mixer. An efficiency of the distributed SIS junction multiplier of 15-30 % for a fractional bandwidth of 10% with excellent spectral line purity were demonstrated. The -3 dB line width of the multiplied signal is better than 1 Hz, which were the lowest resolution bandwidth of the spectrum analyser. Consequently, the results attained in this work show that the distributed SIS junction frequency multiplier has considerable future potential, and could possibly be used in LO source in single-ended and multi-pixel SIS mixer layouts. Furthermore, in order to improve the sideband rejection ratio of cryogenically cooled sideband separating receivers for radio astronomy receivers to more than 15 dB over a wide RF and IF bandwidth, novel wideband RF and IF hybrid couplers have been developed and demonstrated with very low imbalances. More specifically, a 4-8 GHz IF assembly comprising a compact 90° hybrid chip, two bias-T circuits and two transmission line circuits was designed and characterised. The compact size of the hybrid chip allows it to be integrated into virtually any sideband separating (2SB) mixer operating at cryogenic temperatures and is furthermore especially advantageous for multi-pixel 2SB receivers or low noise balanced amplifier layouts. The characterisation of the hybrid assembly was performed at a cryogenic temperature of 4 K and sophisticated calibration and fixture de-embedding procedures were used. To further improve the sideband rejection ratio, a novel design for a RF 90° waveguide hybrid with very low amplitude imbalance over a fractional bandwidth of 30% (159-216 GHz) was demonstrated. Both Hybrids are currently implemented in the ALMA Band 5 receivers, which represent the state-of-the-art for ultra-low noise sideband separated receivers. In order to allow complete characterisation of the ALMA Band 5 cartridge a highly versatile measurement setup has been built. The measurement setup includes all necessary hardware and achieves automatic measurements for the system noise and sideband rejection with in-built optimisation procedures. The measurement setup additionally comprises measurements of the receiver saturation, phase and amplitude stability, as well as optical beam characterisation.