Characterization of the 530 GHz to 625 GHz SWI receiver unit for the Jupiter mission JUICE

Paper i proceeding, 2015

The Submillimetre Wave Instrument (SWI) is being developed for the Jupiter Icy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). In this paper we give an overview of the 530 GHz to 625 GHz receiver unit of SWI and present the first noise temperature measurements covering the complete receiver bandwidth at room temperature operation. In this context we will point out the difficulties with the highly variable local oscillator power within the bandwith, which needs a careful tuning of the multiplier bias voltages in order to optimize the noise temperature and to avoid damage of the mixers. In addition we show initial results at cold temperature operation. Furthermore we will present a first stability measurement showing the temperature dependence of the receiver gain at room temperature operation.