Impedance models for tunable antenna-coupled intersubband terahertz (TACIT) mixers

C. Yoo, K. W. West, L. N. Pfeiffer, J. H. Kawamura, B. S. Karasik, M. S. Sherwin

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Tunable antenna-coupled intersubband terahertz (TACIT) mixers are a new type of THz heterodyne detectors based on intersubband transitions in single GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells. TACIT mixers have been predicted to have low single-sideband (SSB) noise temperature (a1/42,000 K) at 20-60 K with a wide IF bandwidth (a1/410 GHz) and a small required local-oscillator (LO) power (< 1 μW). In addition, the detection frequency of TACIT mixers can be tuned in-situ in a wide frequency range (2-5 THz). In TACIT mixers, THz signal (RF) channel is separated from GHz intermediate-frequency (IF) read-out channel, allowing individual optimization of the RF and IF channels for efficient impedance matching. We present simple equivalent-circuit models for the RF and IF channels of TACIT mixers and demonstrate that the RF and IF impedances calculated from the models are in good agreement with their indirect or direct experimental characterizations in prototype TACIT mixers. We show that the separately optimized RF and IF channels in practical TACIT mixers can yield high impedance matching efficiencies.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationMillimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy XI
EditorsJonas Zmuidzinas, Jian-Rong Gao
PublisherSPIE
ISBN (Electronic)9781510653610
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022
EventMillimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy XI 2022 - Montreal, Canada
Duration: Jul 17 2022Jul 22 2022

Publication series

NameProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume12190
ISSN (Print)0277-786X
ISSN (Electronic)1996-756X

Conference

ConferenceMillimeter, Submillimeter, and Far-Infrared Detectors and Instrumentation for Astronomy XI 2022
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityMontreal
Period7/17/227/22/22

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Keywords

  • 2-dimensinoal electron gas (2DEG)
  • intersubband transitions
  • quantum well
  • THz heterodyne detector

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