Boston Chapter of the IEEE Photonics Society

Wed
Nov 2, 2005
7:00 PM
 

MIT Lincoln Laboratory
 

Low-Noise Terahertz Receivers for Space Science and Terrestrial Imaging Applications

Prof. K. S. Yngvesson, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

Abstract:  This talk will review recent progress related to low-noise Terahertz (THz) receivers. The last decade has seen the development of Hot Electron Bolometer (HEB) receivers with superconducting (especially NbN) elements that have decreased the noise temperatures obtained above 1 THz by about an order-of-magnitude compared with earlier technology (Schottky-barrier diode mixers).  The University of Massachusetts has led the installation of a 1.2 THz to 1.5 THz HEB receiver based on the AST/RO 1.7 meter diameter telescope at the South Pole. Developments in Europe have led to THz HEB receivers that will be launched on the Herschel spacecraft in 2007. We will briefly discuss the design of such receivers, the current state-of-the-art, and the ultimate limits to their noise temperature due to quantum noise.  The above astronomical application developments have also resulted in the availability of a new low noise detector technology that can be applied in terrestrial systems. For example, UMass has demonstrated a THz focal plane array  as a prototype for future arrays needed for imaging systems that can produce THz images at video rates. Early results obtained with such a system will be discussed, and other possible applications for the new technology will be identified.

Biography:  Professor  Sigfrid  Yngvesson  received  his  graduate  degrees  in Physical  Electronics  (Tekn.lic.,  1965,  and  Tekn.Dr.,  1968,  resp.)  from  the  Department  of  Electrical Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden. He has done research  in  the  Physics  Department  at  the  University  of  California,  Berkeley  (1964-1966, and  1968-1970)  and  has  been  teaching  at  the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, since 1970, where he became a full professor in 1978. Professor Yngvesson was elected a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 1998. His field is microwave, millimeter wave and  submillimeter  wave  (terahertz) devices  and  applications,  especially  low  noise  receivers  with applications to astronomy and space science.  In the last fifteen years  his research has primarily dealt with the development and application of hot electron bolometer heterodyne receivers for the terahertz frequency range.  He also works on microwave applications to Chemical engineering problems in catalysis. He is the author of “Microwave Semiconductor Devices”, a text and reference book (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1991)  as well as over 50  papers in refereed journals.