Conference item
Development of a compact sideband-separating SIS mixer for the Africa Millimetre Telescope targeting 211–373GHz
- Abstract:
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Millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelength astronomical heterodyne receivers operating in the simplest doublesideband (DSB) mode down-convert both the upper and lower sidebands (USB/LSB) near the local oscillator (LO) frequency to the same intermediate-frequency (IF) band, causing spectral confusion. The down-converted USB and LSB signals can be separated using a sideband-separating (2SB) scheme, which requires passive components such as hybrid couplers, in-phase power splitters, and directional couplers, in addition to a pair of near-identical DSB mixers. Traditionally, these passive components are implemented using waveguide technology, making them bulky and increasingly difficult to fabricate with high precision at higher frequencies.
In this manuscript, we present a compact 2SB receiver concept. By rearranging the pair of DSB mixers and replacing these waveguide-based passive components with superconducting planar-circuit counterparts, we aim to substantially reduce the receiver size while potentially minimizing transmission losses. We demonstrate this approach by presenting the design of a compact 2SB receiver that continuously covers the Atacama Large Mm/sub-mm Array (ALMA) Band 6 and Band 7 frequency ranges, intended as a second-generation instrument for the Africa Millimetre Telescope (AMT).
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
Actions
Access Document
- Files:
-
-
(Preview, Accepted manuscript, pdf, 1.3MB, Terms of use)
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Authors
+ European Commission
More from this funder
- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/00k4n6c32
- Grant:
- 101093934
- Programme:
- Horizon Europe Horizon-Infra-2022-Tech-01 programme RADIOBLOCKS
+ Science and Technology Facilities Council
More from this funder
- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/057g20z61
- Grant:
- ST/Y002210/1
- ST/Y509474/1
- Host title:
- Proceedings of (SPIE) The International Society for Optics and Photonics 2026
- Publication date:
- 2026-07-08
- Acceptance date:
- 2026-03-16
- Event title:
- SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2026
- Event location:
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Event website:
- https://spie.org/conferences-and-exhibitions/astronomical-telescopes-and-instrumentation
- Event start date:
- 2026-07-05
- Event end date:
- 2026-07-10
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
-
2444655
- Local pid:
-
pubs:2444655
- Deposit date:
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2026-07-16
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- SPIE
- Copyright date:
- 2026
- Rights statement:
- © 2026 SPIE
- Notes:
- The author accepted manuscript (AAM) of this paper has been made available under the University of Oxford's Open Access Publications Policy, and a CC BY public copyright licence has been applied.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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