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Terahertz heterodyne technology for astronomy
and planetary science
Wolfgang Wild
Abstract— Heterodyne detection techniques play an
important role in high-resolution spectroscopy in astronomy
and planetary science. In particular, heterodyne technology in
the Terahertz range has rapidly evolved in recent years.
Cryogenically cooled receivers approaching quantum-limited
sensitivity have been developed up to 2 THz for large
astronomy projects like ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory
and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) as well as
other observing facilities. Future space- and ground-based
submillimeter observatories require heterodyne detectors and
receivers up to 6 THz and beyond. Recent developments in
superconducting mixer as well as local oscillator technology
bring such receivers into reach. This short article summarizes
the main technological achievements of Terahertz heterodyne
technology, and gives an outlook into future developments.
Index Terms—Astronomy, heterodyning, submillimeter
wave detectors, submillimeter wave receivers.
I. INTRODUCTION
H ETERODYNE receivers are a prime tool for research in
astronomy and planetary science requiring high to very
high-spectral resolution (ν/Δν ≥ 106). With the impressive
progress in detector technology over the recent years, the
development of sensitive heterodyne receivers for the
Terahertz spectral range has now become possible. In
particular, heterodyne instruments employing
superconducting mixing elements like SIS (superconductor-
insulator-superconductor) or HEB (hot-electron-bolometer)
devices have revolutionized the observing capabilities of
facilities on the ground, on balloons, airplanes, and
satellites. New astronomy facilities will allow studying the
universe and planets at (sub-) millimeter wavelengths with
unprecedented sensitivity and open new spectral windows at
frequencies above 1 THz (λ 300 μm). At the same time,
Schottky receivers, although offering much lower
sensitivity, remain attractive for planetary science missions
because of the lack of cooling requirements to 4 K.
This short note will give a very brief (and naturally
selective) overview of THz heterodyne technology in the
frequency range 0.6 to ~ 6 THz (λ 500 μm to 50 μm) used
for astronomy and atmospheric science. Results for both
superconducting SIS and HEB mixers will be presented.
Schottky mixers as well as suitable Terahertz local
oscillators will be briefly addressed.
Manuscript received June 28, 2007.
W. Wild is with SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, 9700 AD
Groningen, the Netherlands (phone: +31-50-363 4074; fax +31-50-363
4033; e-mail: W.Wild@sron.rug.nl)
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II. SCIENCE APPLICATIONS OF THZ HETERODYNE RECEIVERS
The submillimeter and THz regime (f>1THz, or λ<300
µm) has become of prime importance for modern
astrophysics. Important scientific questions include the
physical conditions for star-formation to occur, the
evolution of circum-stellar disks, the decoupling of dusty
proto-planetary regions from the gas, and the chemistry that
leads to the pre-biotic conditions of early Earth-like planets
as well as the composition and dynamics of planetary
atmospheres. The relevance of the submillimeter and THz
regime is demonstrated by observing facilities under
construction such as ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory
(3.5 m antenna, heterodyne detection from 0.5 to 2 THz for,
launch 2008), the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA,
up to 1 THz, full operation in 2012), and the airborne
Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy
(SOFIA, approaching operations). All these facilities
employ state-of-the-art cryogenic heterodyne receivers at
THz frequencies for high-resolution spectroscopy.
Future planned astronomical facilities such as ESPRIT
[1], a six-element far-infrared space interferometer, the
space mission Millimetron (a 12m deployable THz
telescope) of the Russian Space Agency, or the High
Elevation Antarctic THz Telescope (HEAT) [2], to give only
a few examples, require heterodyne receivers above 1 THz.
III. THZ HETERODYNE TECHNOLOGY
A. Heterodyne detection
Heterodyne detection is a useful tool for preserving the
information within a spectrum obtained at high frequencies
and allows extremely high spectral resolution. The high-
frequency RF spectrum at THz frequencies is down-
converted to a much lower Intermediate Frequency (IF) of a
few GHz preserving all spectral information and the signal
phase (the latter aspect being important for interferometry).
The frequency conversion is done through mixing of the
astronomical RF signal with a local oscillator (LO) in a non-
linear mixing element. Three components largely determine
the performance of a heterodyne front-end at submillimeter
wavelenghts:
• Mixer: The noise and gain of the mixer dominate the
sensitivity of a high-frequency heterodyne receiver and
may limit one or both of the RF tuning range and IF
bandwidth of the receiver. Efficient coupling of the
mixing element to the THz radiation is crucial.
• Local oscillator: The LO must provide sufficient
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Fig. 1. State-of-the-art DSB noise temperatures of the HIFI mixers (Bands 1-
5: SIS; Band 6: HEB), 2006.
power to drive the mixer (typically a few μW for
superconducting mixers, ~0.5 mW for Schottky
mixers), and must be spectrally pure and stable. The
tuning range of the LO is critical to the tuning range of
the receiver.
• Cryogenic IF amplifier: The noise contribution of the
IF amplifier chain (especially the “pre-amp” which
immediately follows the mixer) is an important part of
the overall system noise budget, while its bandwidth
may limit the IF bandwidth of the receiver.
B. THz frequency mixers
Three types of THz mixers are commonly in use:
• SIS mixers offer excellent sensitivity and large IF
bandwidth (up to 8 GHz or more) up to ~1.4 THz.
Beyond this frequency the sensitivity decreases
rapidly because of losses in the superconducting
materials.
• HEB mixers are the best choice above ~1.4 THz. The
theory of HEB mixers is not as well developed as for
SIS mixers, and there is room for improvement of
sensitivity and IF bandwidth.
• Schottky mixers provide much lower sensitivity than
SIS or HEB mixers (by about a factor of 20) but
offer the significant advantage of not requiring
cooling to 4 K or below which for some application
is crucial (e.g. atmospheric and planetary science
space missions). In addition, the IF bandwidth can be
very large.
The excellent sensitivity of SIS mixers have made them
the detector of choice below ~1.4 THz. Practically all
ground-based (sub-) millimeter observatories use SIS
mixers up to ~1 THz. Observations around 1.5 THz (where
a small atmospheric window exists) are done with HEB
mixers.
All three mixer types have been space qualified. SIS and
HEB mixers (up to 2 THz) will fly on Herschel-HIFI in
2008. Schottky mixers have important space flight heritage
(e.g. UARS MLS, Odin, SWAS, and EOS Aura missions).
Figure 1 shows the noise temperatures achieved with the
HIFI instrument using SIS and HEB mixers. For
comparison, Schottky mixers at submillimeter frequencies
typically have noise temperatures about 10 to 20 times
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Fig. 2. State-of-the-art DSB noise temperatures of HEB mixers from 0.6 to
5.3 THz. Best results correspond to about 10 hν/k (compilation by Gao and
Huebers).
higher.
Above 2 THz a number of HEB systems have been
demonstrated in the lab by various groups as preparation for
future space missions. All of these systems have been
operated at specific frequencies with a small tuning range
(using a laser LO) and fairly low IF bandwidth (typically 2-
3 GHz, or less). Reported noise temperatures show best
values around 8-10 hv/k (i.e. 8-10 times above the quantum
limit), see Figure 2. The highest demonstrated frequency is
5.3 THz (with a noise temperature of more than 20 hv/k).
Another development, the use of superconducting
integrated receivers (SIR) [3] where a single chip contains
all major elements of a heterodyne receiver could lead to
more compact instruments. A SIR channel at 600 GHz has
been developed for the balloon-based atmospheric mission
TELIS (Terahertz and submillimeter limb sounder) [4]
Fig. 3. Left: typical waveguide mixer configuration; right: quasi-optical
coupling with double-slot antenna and lens.
which is planned to have a first test flight in Nov 2007.
The efficient coupling of the RF signal to the detection
(mixing) device is important to achieve good sensitivity and
is commonly done either via feedhorns and a waveguide or
quasi-optically, i.e. via a planar antenna structure and a lens.
Figure 3 shows the schemes. In general, waveguide
structures are well understood and modeled, but they
become increasingly difficult to manufacture at higher
frequencies. For example, a rectangular waveguide at 1.3
THz has dimensions on the order of 100 μm x 200 μm.
Complex waveguide structures with dimension of a few tens
of microns are needed for more advanced mixer concepts
such as balanced or sideband-separating mixers [5]. Several
groups have developed micro-machining techniques, using
e.g. direct machining or a photolithographic process [6].
Figure 4 shows an example of a micro-machined mixer back
piece at 1.3 THz.
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Fig. 4. SEM photograph of
a 1.3 THz mixer back
piece manufactured by Si
micro-machining [5, 6]
Schottky mixer diode performance has improved
markedly in recent years due to the advent of new wafer
processing and diode fabrication techniques. These recent
developments allow parasitic circuit components to be
reduced (thereby improving frequency response) and have
allowed the introduction of planar structures (in single or
multiple diode configurations) that improve performance
and reliability. Schottky mixer designs now exhibit fairly
good noise performance to frequencies as high as 2.5THz
along with space heritage; for example, the ESO-MLS Aqua
mission.
C. THz frequency local oscillators
In order to operate a THz heterodyne mixer, LO powers
on the order of μW (for SISand HEB mixers) to mW (for
Schottky mixers) are required. Two main technologies are
used:
1) Solid-state sources
In the submillimeter regime multiplier chains driven by
high-power millimeter-wave sources are routinely used up
to ~600 GHz and have been developed up to 2 THz for
Herschel-HIFI. Figure 5 shows state-of-the-art output
powers for multiplier chains from 1.1 to 1.9 THz [7]. Solid-
state LOs offer sufficient output power for superconducting
SIS and HEB mixers and wide tuning range. With some
effort, it may be possible to extend this technology to 3 THz
[8].
2) Gas and quantum-cascade lasers
Far-infrared gas lasers are used in the laboratory for THz
applications and mixer development. A space-qualified
version of a CO2 pumped FIR laser at 2.5 THz has been
used on the EOS-MLS Aqua mission. However, for many
applications, and in particular for future space missions,
smaller and lighter LO sources are preferred. Extremely
promising is the development of THz quantum-cascade-
lasers (QCL) [9, 10] which has opened up the possibility for
heterodyne receivers operating as high as 6 THz (50µm) and
beyond. QCLs are engineered structures where the laser
frequency can in principle be “custom designed” and is not
fixed by material properties (as e.g. in gas lasers). Recently,
a first HEB-QCL heterodyne demonstration at 2.8 THz has
shown the potential for a sensitive THz system [11]. QCLs
have been demonstrated in CW operation in the range from
2.1 to 4.7 THz with sufficient output power to pump THz
mixers (including Schottky mixers). However, for a
practical THz system issues like phase-locking, beam
quality, tuning range, and stability need to be investigated
and/or improved. To overcome the tuning range limitation,
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Fig. 5. Output power of four local oscillator chains from 1.4 to 1.9 THz
measured at 120 K [7].
integrated systems with many QCLs could be developed
covering several (adjacent) frequencies with the same HEB
mixer.
D. IF amplifiers
Existing cryogenic IF amplifiers provide bandwidths of
up to 8 GHz (with discrete elements) or beyond (with
MMIC designs) with very good noise temperatures (below 5
K). For HIFI, IF amplifiers in the 4-8 and 2.4-4.8 GHz
ranges have been space qualified. Future developments
include integration of the IF amplifier with the mixer
reducing system complexity.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
W. Wild thanks B. Ellison (RAL) for providing
information on Schottky mixers.
REFERENCES
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infrared", in Proc. SPIE, 6255, p. 62651Z, 2006.
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