A superconducting flux-flow oscillator of terahertz range

Abstract

We have elaborated, fabricated and tested a THz source radiating to open space based on the superconducting flux-flow oscillator (FFO). In this concept, the oscillator is integrated with the transmitting lens antenna based on a slot structure in Nb film with a thickness of ~200 nm located on the same chip. The slot planar antenna is matched to the oscillator (by input) and to the semielliptical Si lens with a diameter of 10 mm (by output) providing a narrow output beam of THz emission. A harmonic mixer based on the superconductor-insulator-superconductor junction embedded in the “FFO and antenna” integrated structure has been used for the phase locking of the oscillator. Several designs of antenna coupled with the oscillator by microstrip lines have been numerically simulated, and the batches of experimental samples based on Nb-AlN-NbN superconducting trilayers with Rn ·A ~ 20 Ω·μm2 (jc ~ 10 kA/cm2) have been fabricated and tested. Two different setups were used for experimental study: a THz spectrometer based on the SIS receiver with a high spectral resolution (better than 0.1 MHz) and a Si bolometer. The overall operating range of 250 to 700 GHz is covered by all the developed designs.