This paper describes the development of superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixers for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) from the device point of view. During the construction phase of ALMA, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) successfully fabricated SIS mixers to meet the stringent ALMA noise temperature requirements of less than 230 K (5 times the quantum noise) for Band 10 (787-950 GHz) in collaboration with the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology. Band 10 covers the highest frequency band of ALMA and is recognized as the most difficult band in terms of superconducting technology. After the construction, the NAOJ began development studies for ALMA enhancement such as wideband and multibeam SIS mixers according to top-level science requirements, which are also presented.

This paper describes the first experimental results for a waveguide-type all-NbN superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) heterodyne mixer on an MgO substrate designed to operate over the gap frequency of Nb. The mixer consists of an NbN/MgO/NbN junction, which has a length of one wavelength at 880 GHz as a tuning circuit, an NbN/MgO/NbN microstrip as a λ/4 impedance transformer, and an RF choke filter. The mixer chip was designed using a high-frequency-structure simulator. Its return-loss and embedding-impedance characteristics were examined using a 180-times-scaled mixer model. By optimizing the cutting and polishing processes for the MgO substrate, we were able to fabricate the mixer chip with an accuracy of less than 5 µm. We succeeded in mounting the chip on a mixer block and in estimating the receiver noise temperature. The uncorrected minimum double-sideband receiver noise temperature was 740 K at 824 GHz. A comparison of the receiver noise temperature in a quasi-optical SIS mixer fabricated on the same wafer as the waveguide mixer showed that input noise was the major contributor to receiver noise in the waveguide mixer.

We report on the design and experimental results of a fix-tuned Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) mixer for Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) band 8 (385-500 GHz) receivers. Nb-based SIS junctions of a current density of 10 kA/cm2 and one micrometer size (fabricated with a two-step lift-off process) are employed to accomplish the ALMA receiver specification, which requires wide frequency coverage as well as low noise temperature. A parallel-connected twin-junction (PCTJ) is designed to resonate at the band center to tune out the junction geometric capacitance. A waveguide-microstrip probe is optimized to have nearly frequency-independent impedance at the probe's feed point, thereby making it easy to match the low-impedance PCTJ over a wide frequency band. The RF embedding impedance is retrieved by fitting the measured pumped I-V curves to confirm good matching between PCTJ and signal source. We demonstrate here a minimum double-sideband receiver noise temperature of 3 times of quantum limits for an intermediate-frequency range of 4-8 GHz. The mixers were measured in band 8 cartridge with a sideband separation scheme. Single-sideband receiver noise below ALMA specification was achieved over the whole band.

We report on progress in the development of high current density NbN/AlN/NbN tunnel junctions for application as submillimeter wave SIS mixers. A ultra-high current density up to 120 kA/cm2, roughly two orders of magnitude larger than any reported results for all-NbN tunnel junctions, was achieved in the junctions. The magnetic field dependence and temperature dependence of critical supercurrents were measured to investigate the Josephson tunneling behaviour of critical supercurrents in the high-Jc junctions. We have developed a low-noise quasi-optical SIS mixer with the high-current density NbN/AlN/NbN junctions and two-junction tuning circuits which employ Al/SiO/NbN microstriplines. The tuning characteristics of the mixer were investigated by measuring the response in the direct detection mode by using the Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) and measuring the response in the heterodyne detection mode with the standard Y-factor method at frequencies from 670 to 1082 GHz. An uncorrected double sideband receiver noise temperature of 457 K (12hν/kB) was obtained at 783 GHz.

Millimeter- and submillimeter-wave low-noise superconducting receivers, such as superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixers, hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers, and superconducting direct detectors, are addressed in this paper. Some general topics on the development of SIS mixers, including SIS junction and integrated tuning circuitry, mixing circuitry, and mixer-performance simulation, are extensively discussed. A tuneless waveguide SIS mixer developed at Nobeyama Radio Observatory (NRO) and its performance are presented. The fundamental mechanisms of diffusion- and phonon-cooled HEB mixers and recent advances in HEB mixers are briefly reviewed. Finally, incoherent detectors with superconducting tunnel junctions are discussed. Results for a direct detecting experiment at 500 GHz are given.

A 90 GHz band planar-type superconducting mixer using Ba1-xKxBiO3 (BKBO) bicrystal junctions was fabricated on a MgO bicrystal substrate. The mixer is integrated with microwave circuits and two junctions, but we could not operate the mixer in image rejection mode because of process damage to the junction properties. However we confirmed the mixing operation; the intermediate frequency (IF) signal was observed up to 17K (LO87 GHz, RF92 GHz).

We report on progress in the development of high-current-density all-NbN tunnel junctions for application as submillimeter wave SIS mixers. A very high current density up to 54 kA/cm2, roughly an order of magnitude larger than any reported results for all-NbN tunnel junctions, was achieved in the junctions with a thin aluminum nitride (AIN) tunnel barrier. Even though the junctions have a very high current density, they showed high-quality junction characteristics with a large gap voltage, sharp quasipartical current rise, and small subgap leakage current. The junctions also exhibited good Josephson tunneling behavior, excellent terahertz response, and sensitive heterodyne mixing properties. NbN/AIN/NbN tunnel junctions were integrated with a NbN thin-film antenna to investigate the terahertz responses and the heterodyne mixing properties in a quasioptical mixer testing system. Photon-assisted tunneling steps were clearly observed on the I-V curve with irradiation up to 1 THz, and low-noise heterodyne mixing was demonstrated in the 300-GHz band.

A quasi-optical Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) mixer has been designed and tested in the 270-GHz band. The mixer used a substrate-lens-coupled log-periodic antenna and a tuning circuit for RF matching. The antenna is planar and self-complementary, and has a frequency-independent impedance of around 114 Ω over several octaves. The tuning circuit consists of two Nb/AIOx/Nb tunnel junctions separated by inductance for tuning out the junction capacitances and a λ/4 impedance transformer for matching the resistance of the two-junction circuit to the antenna impedance. The IF output from the mixer is brought out in a balanced method at each edge of the antenna, and is coupled to a low noise amplifier through a balun transformer using a 180-degree hybrid coupler for broadband IF matching. Double sideband receiver noise temperatures, determined from experimental Y-factor measurements, are about 150 K across the majority of the desired operating frequency band. The minimum receiver noise temperature of 120 K was measured at 263 GHz, which is as low as that of waveguide receivers. At this frequency, measurement of the noise contribution to the receiver results in input losses of 90 K, mixer noise of 17 K, and multiplied IF noise of 13 K. We found that the major sources of noise in our quasi-optical receiver were the optical losses.

We have developed a strato-mesospheric ozone monitoring system with a low noise SIS mixer, which receives 110.836 GHz millimeter-wave emission due to the rotational transition of ozone molecules (J=61,560,6). The system is completely standalone. We derived the altitude profile of ozone density between 25 km and 80 km from the observed spectrum. The receiver noise temperature was as low as 17 K (DSB), so that the altitude profile could be obtained every 3-10 minutes. The monitoring system can operate continuously over one year without any maintenance work, because it utilizes a 4 K closed cycle helium refrigerator and reliable Nb/AIOx/Nb SIS junctions. We used two acousto-optical spectrometers (AOSs) as real-time spectrometers because of their high resolution and simple construction. In an up-to-date system, one AOS would have a band-width of 65 MHz and the other, a band-width of 250 MHz with resolutions of 40 kHz and 250 kHz, respectively. A computer controls the entire system and is also used to analyze measured data. In this paper, we present the principles of system operation, the latest performance and the construction of the system, and some observed data.

A Superconductor-Insulator-Superconductor (SIS) mixer using two junctions connected in parallel through a stripline inductance has been studied. The essential point of the two-junctions device is that the capacitance of the junctions was tuned out by the inductance to obtain a broadband operation without mechanical tuning elements. It has been shown by theoretical analysis that the performance of this type of device is excellent and nearly quantum-limited performance of the mixer can be obtained. It has been demonstrated that the double sideband (DSB) noise temperature of a receiver employing this type of device was less than 40 K over the bandwidth of 90-120 GHz and that the lowest receiver noise temperature of 18 K, which is only 3.2 times as large as the quantum limited photon noise was obtained around 118 GHz. Junctions used in the two-junctions device have significantly larger area, i.e. larger capacitance, and smaller normal resistance than conventional ones. In order to obtain a good impedance match between the source and the junctions, an impedance transformer made of a superconductiong stripline was integrated with the junctions. This type of two-junctions device can easily be scaled to submillimeter frequency without using submicron-sized SIS junctions.