Vessen Vassilev

A Swedish heterodyne facility instrument for the APEX telescope

Aims. In March 2008, the APEX facility instrument was installed on the telescope at the site of Lliano Chajnantor in northern Chile. The main objective of the paper is to introduce the new instrument to the radio astronomical community. It describes the hardware configuration and presents some initial results from the on-sky commissioning. Methods. The heterodyne instrument covers frequencies between 211 GHz and 1390 GHz divided into four bands. The first three bands are sideband-separating mixers operating in a single sideband mode and based on superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) tunnel junctions. The fourth band is a hot-electron bolometer, waveguide balanced mixer. All bands are integrated in a closedcycle temperature-stabilized cryostat and are cooled to 4 K. Results. We present results from noise temperature, sideband separation ratios, beam, and stability measurements performed on the telescope as a part of the receiver technical commissioning. Examples of broad extragalactic lines are also included.

Waveguide-to-microstrip transition with integrated bias-T

A novel device, a waveguide-to-microstrip transition with an integrated bias-T, is presented. The substrate-based planar structure comprises a waveguide E-probe, shaped as a radial line. The probe couples the RF field of a full-height waveguide to a microstrip line or directly to an active component, e.g., a transistor or diode in a mixer or direct detector. The radial probe is connected on its wide side to another port via a specially shaped high impedance line that provides RF/DC isolation. This port can then be used to inject DC and/or extract IF signals. The design of the presented structure was done using CAD (3-D EM simulation) and an X-band device was produced and fully characterized. The measured performance is in excellent agreement with the simulations; the device has return loss better than -20 dB, insertion loss less or equal to -0.15 dB and isolation for the bias-T line better than -20 dB. RF bandwidth for the transition is 30% of the central frequency.

APEX: the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment

APEX, the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment, has been successfully commissioned and is in operation now. This novel submillimeter telescope is located at 5107 m altitude on Llano de Chajnantor in the Chilean High Andes, on what is considered one of the worlds outstanding sites for submillimeter astronomy. The primary reflector with 12 m diameter has been carefully adjusted by means of holography. Its surface smoothness of 17-18 μm makes APEX suitable for observations up to 200 μm, through all atmospheric submm windows accessible from the ground.

Design and Characterization of a 211–275 GHz Sideband Separating Mixer for the APEX Telescope

We present the final results of the development and characterization of the sideband separating superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixer for the APEX telescope band 1 (211-275 GHz). The sideband separation is achieved by using a quadrature scheme where the radio frequency (RF) and a local oscillator (LO) power are applied to two identical double sideband SIS mixers. All mixer components, including the LO and RF distribution circuitry, are integrated into a single mixer block. To achieve a compact design we developed a superconducting Lange coupler, based on Nb thin film, which is used as an intermediate frequency hybrid. Typical single sideband noise temperature of 100 K and sideband rejection ratio of about 12 dB and are measured.

Facility heterodyne receiver for the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment Telescope

APEX, the Atacama PAthflnder Experiment (APEX) Telescope, is a partnership between Max Planck Institut fur Radioastronomie (in collaboration with Astronomisches Institut Ruhr Universitat Bochum (AIRUB)), Onsala Space Observatory and the European Southern Observatory. The telescope antenna, supplied by VERTEX Antennentechnik, is a 12 m antenna with a 17 mum rms surface accuracy operating at the Atacama Desert in the Chilean Andes at a 5100 m altitude. The APEX heterodyne facility receiver is placed in the telescope Nasmyth Cabin A. The receivers are coupled to the antenna via relay optics allowing the operation of two different Pi-type instruments and a 6-channel facility heterodyne receiver to cover approximately 210 - 1500 GHz frequency range while providing frequency independent illumination of the secondary. In this report, we present details on the optics for the APEX facility heterodyne receiver and details of its design. The report includes a very brief review of the APEX Band 1, 211 - 270 GHz, Band 2, 270 - 370 GHz, Band 3, 385 - 500 GHz, all based on sideband separation SIS mixer technology and Band T2, 1250 - 1390 GHz, a balanced waveguide HEB mixer, all developed by GARD.

A sideband separating mixer for 85-115 GHz

This paper presents the results of development and tests of a sideband separating heterodyne receiver for the 85-115 GHz band with superconducting tunnel junctions (SIS) as frequency down converters. Sideband separation is achieved by using a quadrature scheme where two identical mixer junctions are pumped by a local oscillator (LO) with 90/spl deg/ phase difference. We used an innovative mixer layout where the quadrature scheme is implemented using waveguide-based and integrated on-chip components. We employed an additional pair of SIS junctions as terminations for LO-injection directional couplers.

High quality microstrip termination for MMIC and millimeter-wave applications

This paper presents the results of a development study of a high-quality termination for microstrip transmission line. The termination is made of a specially shaped resistive thin-film placed in the strip plane without any ground connection. The floating termination has a sheet resistance close to the transmission line characteristic impedance. An analytical model validated by a comparison to simulation data and scale model measurements at around 10 GHz is presented. This paper describes a guideline for designing of this type of termination that is very suitable for MMIC and millimeter-wave applications.

MMIC-Based Components for MM-Wave Instrumentation

In this letter, we present results of fully integrated 90-130 GHz receiver based on 100 nm mHEMT technology. The receiver contains a low noise amplifier (LNA), mixer and LO multiplier chain integrated into a single monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC). The circuit is packaged into a waveguide block, characterized and compared to on-wafer measurements. Waveguide to microstrip transitions are used to interface the MMIC to the waveguide. A breakout LNA circuit is also packaged, and its performance is compared to the receiver. The LNA noise was characterized on a wafer and after packaging. The packaged module is measured at both room and cryogenic temperatures, NF of 3.7 dB is measured at 300 K and 0.9 dB at 20 K.

Polymer Gap Adapter for Contactless, Robust, and Fast Measurements at 220–325 GHz

Radiation leakages are a considerable problem when measuring waveguide structures at high frequencies. In order to maintain good electrical contact, flanges need to be tightly and evenly screwed to the device under test. This can be a time-consuming operation, especially with repeated measurements. We present a metamaterial-based adapter, which prohibits leakage even in the presence of gaps at the interconnects. This so-called gap adapter has been fabricated from a metallized polymer (SU8). The reflection coefficient is below -20 dB throughout the band for a 50-μm gap on both sides of the gap adapter. In comparison, a conventional waveguide with a 50-μm gap on both sides has a reflection coefficient of -10 dB. The gap adapter can be used to perform fast measurements, since the normal flange screws are redundant. We compare the SU8 gap adapter with a Si version and to a smooth metal waveguide reference disc. The SU8 gap adapter performed better than the Si version and much better than the waveguide disc in all test cases. SU8 gap adapters were used to measure on a waveguide component. The SU8 gap adapters with 50-μm gaps performed comparable with the waveguide component with the flange screws carefully tightened. The polymer also makes the gap adapter mechanically robust and easy to mass fabricate.

Design of

This paper describes the design and realization of a transition from a microstrip line to a ridge gap waveguide operating between 95 and 115 GHz. The study includes simulations, measurements, and a Monte Carlo analysis of the assembly tolerances. The purpose of this tolerance study is to identify the most critical misalignments that affect the circuit performance and to provide guidelines about the assembly tolerance requirements for the proposed transition design.