Sub-THz Range Superconducting SIS Receivers for Space and Ground-Based Radio Astronomy

The paper presents the results of developments of low-noise receiving systems in the sub-THz range, carried out at the Kotelnikov Institute of Radio Engineering of the Russian Academy of Sciences in recent years and aimed at creating receivers with quantum sensitivity for use in space and ground-based radio telescopes. The technology for manufacturing integrated receiving structures based on superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) tunnel junctions is described, and the results of the development of SIS receivers in the 211–275 GHz and 800–950 GHz ranges with a noise temperature in double sideband (DSB) mode of about 20 K and 220 K are presented, respectively. The results of these developments will be used to create receiving systems for the ground-based telescopes Suffa, APEX and LLAMA, as well as for the Millimetron space mission.