Applications like radio astronomy and space communications require ultimate sensitivity and make use of very particular receivers with state-of-the-art devices. Usually the receivers are cooled at cryogenic temperatures to reduce the noise even further. Noise temperatures of only a few times the quantum limit can be obtained in these conditions. During the past decade, Indium Phosphide HEMTs have demonstrated the best noise performance at cryogenic temperatures in the microwave frequency range of all active semiconductor devices, together with extremely low power consumption. For certain applications noise is not the only factor affecting the sensitivity. For example, gain fluctuations may play a dominant role in wide band radiometers. Unfortunately some of the factors that have contributed to improve the noise temperature have degraded the gain fluctuations. The operation at cryogenic temperatures also increases the fluctuations. This paper describes the experimental results obtained at the Centro Astronomico de Yebes (CAY) in the development of wide band cryogenic amplifiers. Special attention is paid to the influence of the bias point in noise and gain fluctuations. InP HEMTs from different foundries were tested. The amplifiers developed will be used in the Herschel ESA mission radiometers and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) receivers.
The sub-millimeter radiometers of the Herschel mission have very stringent requirements. The scientific goals require an instantaneous bandwidth of four GHz with very low noise, flat gain and low power dissipation. Short-term gain stability of the amplifier is important, because gain fluctuations could limit the sensitivity of the instrument. Besides, a highly reliable, low weight unit is required to be compatible with the space instrumentation standards. The amplifiers will be used in conjunction with HEB and SIS mixers in all 7 channels of the instrument. This paper describes the design, the special construction techniques and the results of the amplifiers built by Centro Astronómico de Yebes for the development model of the Herschel Heterodyne Instrument. The average noise temperature obtained in the 4-8 GHz band is 3.5 K, with a gain of 27 ±1.1 dB at an ambient temperature of 15 K and keeping the total power dissipation below the allowed 4 mW. Normalized gain fluctuations were carefully measured, being lower than 1.5·10-4 Hz-1/2 @ 1 Hz. Space qualification of the design is in progress.
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