A Q-band down-converter module with high conversion gain (CG) is presented for a wideband radio astronomy receiver. This down-converter module is designed on a silicon-germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) process (0.13 μm) to realize high CG, low LO power operation, and wideband frequency impedance matching for RF/LO/IF ports. The down-converter consists of a double-balanced Gilbert mixing core with on-chip RF/LO transformer baluns, an IF buffer, and bandpass filter. The performance of the down converter is largely dependent on the passive components and signal line interconnection. The design of all passive structures is analyzed and optimized with FEM simulations for a high-quality factor to minimize losses and parasitic effects. This module achieves 8 dB of CG at a low LO power of −6 dBm over a wide RF bandwidth from 28 to 56 GHz and IF bandwidth from 6 to 18 GHz. It demonstrates LO-to-IF/LO-to-RF/RF-to-IF isolations > dB / 40 dB/35 dB, respectively. The critical FEM simulation is described in the design of this high-density SiGe HBT RF circuit. The measured performance confirms the simulation results. The module meets the original design requirements of the DVA-2 Q-band receiver.
The radio instrumentation team (RIT) at NRC’s (National Research Council Canada) Herzberg astronomy and astrophysics research center (HAA) is currently developing a dual-linear polarization, single-feed Q-band cryogenic radio astronomy receiver to develop and demonstrate important technologies needed for front-end development for the next generation very large array (ngVLA) project lead by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The specific target is the ngVLA band-5 receiver, which covers the frequency range 30.5–50.5 GHz. It also serves as a technology demonstrator for component development for ngVLA bands-3, 4, and 6. The Q-band receiver system is designed to achieve a receiver noise temperature of less than 20 K over 70% of the bandwidth and better than 24 K over the complete operating bandwidth, and is compliant with the current ngVLA Band-5 receiver requirement. The receiver system consists of a cryostat with a cooled feed horn, a turnstile OMT (orthomode transducer) plus two noise couplers for calibration, two cryogenic mHEMT low noise amplifiers with noise temperature lower than 14 K, IR filters, and a vacuum window for low-loss transmission of electromagnetic fields into the cryostat.
In radio astronomy instrumentation, the benefit of increased spectral grasp must be evaluated against a decrease in overall system performance (e.g., system noise, stability, and optical efficiency) and considerable effort has gone into quantifying the best overall choice to define receiver bands for a particular telescope; present examples include the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and the Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) where the higher bands do not exceed a bandwidth of 1.7:1. During the last two years, NRC Herzberg has been researching wide bandwidth waveguide and active components in order to extend the bandwidth to a full 2:1 octave bandwidth. We report on recent innovation in front-end receiver components, including an octave bandwidth feed horn, OMT, and LNA, to enable wideband science
A compact front-end system is presented for a dual-linear polarization cryogenic Q-band receiver. This receiver will be used to demonstrate the high frequency performance of the Dish Verification Antenna 2 (DVA-2) composite reflector telescope between 35–50 GHz and is a technology demonstrator with possible application to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA). A vacuum vessel and a two-stage Gifford-McMahon cryopump system are used for the cryogenic environment. The second stage of the cryostat is cooled to 16 K and includes a small choke ring feed horn, a low-loss noise calibration module (NCM) integrated with orthogonal mode transducer (OMT), and two cryogenically cooled mHEMT MMIC low-noise amplifiers (LNAs). Using a noise diode as the noise source on the 300 K stage inside the cryostat helps to protect the cooled components from signals outside of the cryostat, and also lessen the heat on the second stage since a noise diode normally produce a power dissipation of several hundred mW. The OMT design is an optimized version of the design used in the ALMA Band 1 cartridge with two integrated directional couplers and excellent performance. The cascaded noise analysis of the receiver shows a receiver noise temperature of 19.4 K.
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