A photomixer local oscillator for a 630-GHz heterodyne receiver
June 1, 1999
Journal Article
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Published in:
IEEE Microw. Guid. Wave Lett., Vol. 9, No. 6, June 1999, pp. 245-7.
R&D Group:
Summary
A photomixer local oscillator (LO) operating at the 630-GHz difference frequency of two laser diodes was successfully demonstrated with a heterodyne detector based on a niobium superconducting tunnel junction. The low-temperature-grown GaAs photomixer generated 0.20 uW in the input spatial mode of the receiver. Using the photmixer LO, the double-sideband noise temperature of the receiver was 331 K - in good agreement with the 323-K noise temperature obtained when a multiplied Gunn oscillator generating 0.25 uW was substituted for the photomixer.