2.5THz multipixel heterodyne receiver based on NbN HEB mixers

Journal article, 2006

A 16 pixel heterodyne receiver for 2.5 THz has been developed based on NbN superconducting hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers. The receiver uses a quasioptical RF coupling approach where HEB mixers are integrated into double dipole antennas on 1.5m thick Si3N4/ SiO2 membranes. Spherical mirrors (one per pixel) and backshort distance from the antenna have been used to design the output mixer beam profile. The camera design allows all 16 pixel IF readout in parallel. The gain bandwidth of the HEB mixers on Si3N4/ SiO2 membranes was found to be 0.70.9 GHz, which is much smaller than for similar devices on silicon. Application of buffer layers and use of alternative types of membranes (e.g. silicon-on-insulator) is under investigation.