Scott N. Paine

A wideband fixed-tuned SIS receiver for 200-GHz operation

We report on the design and development of a heterodyne receiver, designed to cover the frequency range 176-256 GHz. This receiver incorporates a niobium superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) tunnel junction mixer, which, chiefly for reasons of reliability and ease of operation, is a fixed-tuned waveguide design. On-chip tuning is provided to resonate out the junctions geometric capacitance and produce a good match to the waveguide circuit. Laboratory measurements on the first test receiver indicate that the required input bandwidth (about 40%) is achieved with an average receiver noise temperature of below 50 K. Mixer conversion gain is observed at some frequencies, and the lowest measured receiver noise is less than 30 K. Furthermore, the SIS mixer used in this receiver is of simple construction, is easy to assemble and is therefore a good candidate for duplication. >

Design and characterization of a 250-350-GHz fixed-tuned superconductor-insulator-superconductor receiver

A fixed-tuned superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) receiver has been designed to operate in the 250-350-GHz frequency band. This receiver has a double-side-band noise temperature of between 35 and 45 K, or about 3h/spl nu//k/sub B/, over its entire operating band. Extensive characterization of the receiver has been carried out using techniques developed for submillimeter waves. The input noise, side-band ratio, 1 dB compression point, optimum LO drive level, and vector near-field beam profile have all been measured experimentally. The measurement techniques and results are presented and discussed.

A Fourier Transform Spectrometer for Measurement of Atmospheric Transmission at Submillimeter Wavelengths

We describe a Fourier transform spectrometer for measurements of atmospheric transmission in the spectral interval 300 GHz to 3.5 THz. This instrument has been developed to evaluate prospective sites for radio astronomical observations at frequencies above 1 THz. Measurements have been made on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and at the site of the future Millimeter Array near Cerro Chajnantor in northern Chile. Chajnantor frequently exhibits significant transmission in atmospheric windows at frequencies above 1 THz. Here we outline the design and characteristics of the instrument, discuss data processing methods, and present sample measurements from Chajnantor.

A 1-THz superconducting hot-electron-bolometer receiver for astronomical observations

In this paper, we describe a superconducting hot-electron-bolometer mixer receiver developed to operate in atmospheric windows between 800-1300 GHz. The receiver uses a waveguide mixer element made of 3-4-nm-thick NbN film deposited over crystalline quartz. This mixer yields double-sideband receiver noise temperatures of 1000 K at around 1.0 THz, and 1600 K at 1.26 THz, at an IF of 3.0 GHz. The receiver was successfully tested in the laboratory using a gas cell as a spectral line test source. It is now in use on the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory terahertz test telescope in northern Chile.

Ground-based high spectral resolution observations of the entire terrestrial spectrum under extremely dry conditions

[1] A field experiment was conducted in northern Chile at an altitude of 5.3 km to evaluate the accuracy of line-by-line radiative transfer models in regions of the spectrum that are typically opaque at sea level due to strong water vapor absorption. A suite of spectrally resolved radiance instruments collected simultaneous observations that, for the first time ever, spanned the entire terrestrial thermal spectrum (i.e., from 10 to 3000 cm 1 , or 1000 to 3.3 mm). These radiance observations, together with collocated water vapor and temperature profiles, are used to provide an initial evaluation of the accuracy of water vapor absorption in the farinfrared of two line-by-line radiative transfer models. These initial results suggest that the more recent of the two models is more accurate in the strongly absorbing water vapor pure rotation band. This result supports the validity of the Turner et al. (2012) study that demonstrated that the use of the more recent water vapor absorption model in climate simulations resulted in significant radiative and dynamical changes in the simulation relative to the older water vapor model. Citation: Turner, D. D., et al. (2012), Ground-based high spectral resolution observations of the entire terrestrial spectrum under extremely dry conditions, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L10801,

Superconductive hot-electron-bolometer mixer receiver for 800-GHz operation

In this paper, we describe a superconductive hot-electron-bolometer mixer receiver designed to operate in the partially transmissive 350-/spl mu/m atmospheric window. The receiver employs an NbN thin-film microbridge as the mixer element, in which the main cooling mechanism of the hot electrons is through electron-phonon interaction. At a local-oscillator frequency of 808 GHz, the measured double-sideband receiver noise temperature is T/sub RX/=970 K, across a 1-GHz intermediate-frequency bandwidth centered at 1.8 GHz. We have measured the linearity of the receiver and the amount of local-oscillator power incident on the mixer for optimal operation, which is P/sub LO//spl ap/1 /spl mu/W. This receiver was used in making observations as a facility instrument at the Heinrich Hertz Telescope, Mt. Graham, AZ, during the 1998-1999 winter observing season.

Greenland telescope project: Direct confirmation of black hole with sub‐millimeter VLBI

A 12 m diameter radio telescope will be deployed to the Summit Station in Greenland to provide direct confirmation of a Super Massive Black Hole (SMBH) by observing its shadow image in the active galaxy M87. The telescope (Greenland Telescope: GLT) is to become one of the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) stations at sub-millimeter (submm) regime, providing the longest baseline >9000 km to achieve an exceptional angular resolution of 20 µas at 350 GHz, which will enable us to resolve the shadow size of ~40 µas. The triangle with the longest baselines formed by the GLT, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, and the Submillimeter Array (SMA) in Hawaii will play a key role for the M87 observations. We have been working on the image simulations based on realistic conditions for a better understanding of the possible observed images. In parallel, retrofitting of the telescope and the site developments are in progress. Based on 3 years of opacity monitoring at 225 GHz, our measurements indicate that the site is excellent for submm observations, comparable to the ALMA site. The GLT is also expected to make single-dish observations up to 1.5 THz.

Near field vector beam measurements at 1 THz

We have performed near-field vector beam measurements at 1.03 THz to characterize and align the receiver optics of a superconducting receiver. The signal source is a harmonic generator mounted on an X-Y translation stage. We model the measured two-dimensional complex beam pattern by a fundamental Gaussian mode, from which we derive the position of the beam center, the beam radius and the direction of propagation. By performing scans in the planes separated by 400 mm, we have confirmed that our beam pattern measurements are highly reliable.

Evidence for dynamically important magnetic fields in molecular clouds

Recent observational evidence that magnetic fields are dynamically important in molecular clouds, compared to self-gravity and turbulence, is reviewed and illustrated with data from the NGC 2024 region. One piece of evidence, turbulence anisotropy, was found in the diffuse envelope of a cloud (A v ≈ 1; Heyer et al. 2008); our data further suggest turbulence anisotropy in the cloud (A v > 7) and even near the cloud core (A v ∼ 100). The data also show that magnetic fields can channel gravitational contraction even for a region with supercritical N(H 2 )/2B los ratio (the ratio between the observed column density and two times the line-of-sight observed field strength), a parameter which has been widely used by observers to estimate core mass-to-flux ratios. Although the mass-to-flux ratio is constant under the flux-freezing condition, we show that N(H 2 )/2B los grows with time if gravitational contraction is anisotropic due to magnetic fields.

Improved Crystal Perfection in Zone-Recrystallized Si Films on Sio2

We review recent results of our Graphite Strip Heater Si-on-Insulator (SOI) effort: (i) recrystallization of SOI films on 100 mm wafers, (ii) model of subboundary pattern formation in SOI films, (iii) low defect density SOI films by ultra slow scanning of the melt zone, (iv) low defect density SOI films by patterned openings in the cap oxide overlayer.