The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU) will at least double the observation bandwidth and improve the sensitivity and scientific capabilities. The WSU requires upgrading the receiver front-end and the associated analog and digital electronics including the correlator, as well as the ALMA software. In line with the WSU mission, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) initiated the ALMA Band 8 (385-500 GHz) version2 receiver upgrade project, aiming to build an upgrade of the currently existing receiver cartridge with a substantially improved second-generation version. This project originated from significant advances in receiver technologies and a variety of our previous wideband studies in the last decade. This paper briefly summarizes an overview of this project, scientific needs in this frequency range, and the technical readiness and challenges for critical components and subsystems.
This paper introduces a potential low-power-consumption and low-noise microwave amplifier operated at cryogenic temperature, essential for large-scale multi-pixel heterodyne receivers and fault-tolerant quantum computers. The amplifier employs two millimeter-wave superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixers as amplifying elements and a millimeter-wave Josephson array oscillator as the local oscillator source. A proof-of-concept experiment utilizing waveguide SIS mixer modules demonstrated an average gain of approximately 7.5 dB and a noise temperature of around 10 K at microwave frequencies. Additionally, a waveguide Josephson array oscillator module, developed to validate the design, exhibited an output power of roughly 52 nW, estimated from the response of a waveguide SIS detector connected to the oscillator module. These findings indicate the feasibility of realizing a monolithically integrated amplifier chip incorporating SIS mixers and a Josephson array oscillator.
NAOJ have studied wideband receiver technologies at submillimeter wavelengths toward implementation as future upgrades into the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array telescope. We have developed critical components and devices such as waveguide components and superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixers targeting radio frequencies (RF) in the 275-500 GHz range and an intermediate frequency (IF) bandwidth of 3-22 GHz. Based on the developed components, quantum-limited low-noise performance has been demonstrated by using a double-sideband receiver frontend in combination with a high-speed digitizer. In addition, a preliminary demonstration of a wideband RF/IF sideband-separating SIS mixer was performed. This paper describes the status of our efforts to develop technology toward wideband receivers for ALMA.
We are investigating a possible microwave amplifier with low noise and low power consumption at cryogenic temperature for large scale multi-pixel heterodyne superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) receivers at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. We propose the use of SIS junctions as amplifier elements based on quasi-particle mixing. By connecting an SIS up-converter and an SIS down-converter in series with gain in both converters, a lownoise and low-power-consumption high-frequency amplifier can be obtained in principle. A proof-of-concept study has been made by configuring an amplifier with two Nb/Al-AlOx/Nb mixers in the 150-GHz band in a standard noise and gain measurement setup at 4 K with a microwave noise source as an input signal. We observed a maximum gain of more than 10 dB and a minimum noise temperature of less than 10 K, which suggests that our proposed SIS amplifier is capable for multi-pixel SIS receivers. On the other hand, we also observed a periodical behavior in frequency dependence of the measured noise temperature and gain due to a standing-wave effect between the two SIS mixers, which is a problem to be solved.
A focal plane based on MKID has been designed for cosmic microwave background (CMB) B-mode
polarization experiments. We are designing and developing a focal plane with broadband corrugated
horn array, planar OMT, 180 degree hybrid, bandpass filters, and MKIDs. The focal plane consists of 3
octave bands (55 - 108 GHz, 80 - 160 GHz, 160 - 320 GHz), 10 hexagonal modules. Broadband corrugated
horn-array has been directly machined from an Al block and measured to have a good beam shape which
is consistent with electromagnetic field simulations in octave bands. The horn array is designed to be low
standing-wave, light weight, and electromagnetic shield. The broadband 4 probes ortho-mode transducer
(OMT) is fabricated on Si membrane of an SOI wafer. A broadband 180 degree hybrid made with
coplanar waveguide (CPW) is used to reduce higher modes of the circular waveguide. Two bandpass
filters of each polarization are patterned with Nb microstrip. A prototype of the broadband corrugated
horn coupled MKIDs has been fabricated and tested.
This paper summarizes the performance of all the 73 ALMA band 10 cartridges in terms of noise performance and/or optical efficiencies compared to the required ALMA specifications. In particular, the measured optical performance is compared with the results of novel statistical Monte Carlo analyses carried out before receiver production. Some of the technical difficulties encountered during production are briefly described. Finally, some of the first light results of the first receivers used in Chile are presented.
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