1.Information Quantum Technology Laboratory, School of Information Science and Technology, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China 2.Quantum Optoelectronics Laboratory, School of Physics Science and Technology, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China 3.Photonics Laboratory, School of Science, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China
Fund Project:Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11974290, 61871333)
Received Date:24 January 2021
Accepted Date:21 March 2021
Available Online:07 June 2021
Published Online:05 August 2021
Abstract:Power divider is a useful device that divides the power of signal into different subpowers at a certain ratio. The superconducting power divider plays an important role in various superconducting quantum computing circuits and superconducting microwave photon detectors. Therefore, in this paper we investigate how to design and prepare a typical coplanar waveguide superconducting microwave power divider. The parameters are designed by using the odd-even mode method to analyze the transport features of a three-port microwave network. Specifically, the microwave transport properties of the device with a center frequency of 5 GHz and 3 dB power division ratio are simulated. Then, the designed aluminum coplanar waveguide superconducting power divider on silicon is prepared by micro-processing technology and experimentally tested at low temperature. It is shown that the measurement results are consistent with the design parameters. It is noted that the center frequency of the actually prepared power divider is measured to be about 5.25 GHz, which is slightly different from the result of the design and simulation. This difference is probably due to the following main reasons. Firstly, the limited precision of the micromachining process is caused by the fact that the fabricated quarter-wave impedance matching line is etched incompletely, leading the length of the impedance matching line to be shortened. As a consequence, the frequency of the prepared power divider is slightly higher. Secondly, the simulation software is not designed specially for superconducting device simulations, thereby yielding the design parameters slightly different from those of the fabricated superconducting devices. Additionally, a series of attenuations has been used in the experimental test system of the superconducting microwave power dividers for reducing the various noises. This causes the input test signal to weaken, thus the reflected signal turns significantly small. Therefore, none of the S11 parameters of the device can be effectively measured. Finally, neither of S21 and S31 parameters measured in the experiment is the predicted –3 dB, which is mainly due to the imperfections in the welding between SMA connectors and high-frequency transmission lines, and the spot welding between high-frequency transmission lines and power divider samples, and also due to the discontinuities of the high-frequency transmission line and the power divider and so on. All these factors can yield the tested insertion loss of the device. Hopefully, the method in this work can be extended to designing and preparing other passive superconducting microwave devices. Keywords:coplanar waveguide/ superconducting microwave power divider/ microfabrication/ low temperature measurement system
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2.共面波导型微波功分器设计和仿真共面波导结构一般是由衬底基板、接地板以及中心导体构成, 如图1所示. 图中$ S(S = 2 a) $为共面波导中心导体宽度, W为中心导体到接地板宽度, $2 b~(2 b = 2 W+S = 2 W+2 a)$为接地板间隔, t 为金属层厚度, h为衬底基板厚度, $\varepsilon_{{\rm{o}}}\varepsilon_{{\rm{r}}}$为衬底基板介电常数. 图 1 共面波导结构[18] Figure1. Coplanar waveguide structure[18].
利用电磁仿真软件, 建立了功分器参数化模型、设置合适的边界和激励条件, 进而对所设计的共面波导型功分器的微波传输特性进行了仿真, 获得了其S参数、插入损耗、回波损耗和工作带宽等参数. 如图4所示, 当频率范围为4.75—5.25 GHz时, 功分器的$ S_{11} $参数值小于–30 dB, $ S_{21} $参数值大于–3.096 dB. 仿真结果符合设计要求. 图 4 中心频率为5 GHz的微波功分器仿真结果 Figure4. Simulation results of the designed microwave power divider whose center frequency at 5 GHz.
为器件测试的需要, 还设计了连接测试样品与SMA接头的高频传输线(PCB板), 如图5所示. 仿真结果表明, 对信号频率为4—6 GHz的微波信号, 单进单出的高频传输线的$ S_{21} $大于–0.1 dB (图5(a)); 两进两出的高频传输线的$ S_{21} $ 大于–0.145 dB. 插入损耗符合测试要求(图5(b)), 图中尺寸标注的单位为mm. 图 5 (a)用于连接的单端口高频传输线设计(单位: mm); (b)用于连接的两端口高频传输线设计(单位: mm) Figure5. (a) Designed single-port high-frequency transmission line for connection (unit: mm); (b) the designed two-port high-frequency transmission line for connection (unit: mm).
图7为所制备的功分器器件与测试用的高频传输线的连接实物图. 左端为微波出入端口, 右端为两个输出端口. 图 7 超导微波功分器实物图, 器件尺寸为18 mm × 12 mm Figure7. Fabricated superconducting microwave power divider. Its size is 18 mm × 12 mm.
测量线路如图8所示, 主要包含矢量网络分析仪、功率放大器、低温低噪声放大器、隔离器、衰减器. 微波器件性能指标主要是回波损耗、插入损耗和驻波比等. 它们与S参数的关系为 图 8 测量线路, 其中DUT (device under test)表示测试样品, Attenuator为衰减器, LNA为低温低噪声放大器, Amplifier为功率放大器, VNA为矢量网络分析仪, PC为计算机[20] Figure8. Measuring system. Here, DUT (device under test) means the tested sample, Attenuator is used to attenuated the measurement signals, LNA is low-temperature low-noise amplifier, Amplifier is for power amplification, VNA is the vector network analyzer, and PC is the computer[20].