Wideband on-chip terahertz spectrometer based on a superconducting filterbank

Abstract

Terahertz spectrometers with a wide instantaneous frequency coverage for passive remote sensing are enormously attractive for many terahertz applications, such as astronomy, atmospheric science and security. Here we demonstrate a wide-band terahertz spectrometer based on a single superconducting chip. The chip consists of an antenna coupled to a transmission line filterbank, with a microwave kinetic inductance detector behind each filter. Using frequency division multiplexing, all detectors are read-out simultaneously creating a wide-band spectrometer with an instantaneous bandwidth of 45 GHz centered around 350 GHz. The spectrometer has a spectral resolution of $F/\Delta F=380$ and reaches photon-noise limited sensitivity. We discuss the chip design and fabrication, as well as the system integration and testing. We confirm full system operation by the detection of an emission line spectrum of methanol gas. The proposed concept allows for spectroscopic radiation detection over large bandwidths and resolutions up to $F/\Delta F\sim 1000$, all using a chip area of a few $\mathrm{c}{\mathrm{m}}^2$. This will allow the construction of medium resolution imaging spectrometers with unprecedented speed and sensitivity.

arXiv comment21 pages, 7 figures

References in corpus (15)

• A semi-empirical model for two-level system noise in superconducting microresonators
• Fluctuations in the electron system of a superconductor exposed to a photon flux
• A kilo-pixel imaging system for future space based far-infrared observatories using microwave kinetic inductance detectors
• Review: Far-Infrared Instrumentation and Technology Development for the Next Decade
• High optical efficiency and photon noise limited sensitivity of microwave kinetic inductance detectors using phase readout
• Multiplexed Readout for 1000-pixel Arrays of Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors
• Quasiparticle generation efficiency in superconducting thin-films
• Superconducting NbTiN Thin Films with Highly Uniform Properties over a 100 mm diameter Wafer
• A Dual-polarized Broadband Planar Antenna and Channelizing Filter Bank for Millimeter Wavelengths
• MKID development for SuperSpec: an on-chip, mm-wave, filter-bank spectrometer
• Integrated Filterbank for DESHIMA: A Submillimeter Imaging Spectrograph Based on Superconducting Resonators
• Photon noise from chaotic and coherent millimeter-wave sources measured with horn-coupled, aluminum lumped-element kinetic inductance detectors
• Performance of Hybrid NbTiN-Al Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors as Direct Detectors for Sub-millimeter Astronomy
• Calibration scheme for large Kinetic Inductance Detector Arrays based on Readout Frequency Response
• Tile-and-trim micro-resonator array fabrication optimized for high multiplexing factors

Cited by in corpus (19)

• First light demonstration of the integrated superconducting spectrometer
• The Canfranc Axion Detection Experiment (CADEx): Search for axions at 90 GHz with Kinetic Inductance Detectors
• Applications for Microwave Kinetic Induction Detectors in Advanced Instrumentation
• Neutrino Properties with Ground-Based Millimeter-Wavelength Line Intensity Mapping
• SPT-SLIM: A Line Intensity Mapping Pathfinder for the South Pole Telescope
• Terahertz Band-Pass Filters for Wideband Superconducting On-chip Filter-bank Spectrometers
• Suppression of radiation loss in high kinetic inductance superconducting co-planar waveguides
• DESHIMA 2.0: development of an integrated superconducting spectrometer for science-grade astronomical observations
• Nonlinear Effects in Superconducting Thin Film Microwave Resonators
• Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Carbide: A Low-loss Deposited Dielectric for Microwave to Submillimeter Wave Superconducting Circuits
• DESHIMA on ASTE: On-sky Responsivity Calibration of the Integrated Superconducting Spectrometer
• Mapping the Universe in HD
• A data-scientific noise-removal method for efficient submillimeter spectroscopy with single-dish telescopes
• Characterization of low-loss hydrogenated amorphous silicon films for superconducting resonators
• DESHIMA 2.0: Rapid redshift surveys and multi-line spectroscopy of dusty galaxies
• The Simulation and Design of an On-Chip Superconducting Millimetre Filter-Bank Spectrometer
• Optimisation-based alignment of wideband integrated superconducting spectrometers for sub-mm astronomy
• Silicon-based vacuum window for millimeter and submillimeter-wave astrophysics
• First Characterization of a Superconducting Filter-bank Spectrometer for Hyper-spectral Microwave Atmospheric Sounding with Transition Edge Sensors