Development of a 170-210 GHz 3 x 3 Micromachined SIS Imaging Array

Preliminary results from a 3x3 micrornachined millimeter-wave focal-plane imaging array with superconducting tunnel junctions as mixing elements are presented The array operates in the 170-210 GHz frequency range. The micrornachined array is mechanically robust and the SIS devices are sufficiently cooled Uniform DC I-V characteristics of the different elements have been measured We have implemented integrated tuning structures which show a 3-dB bandwidth of 70 GI-1z when the junction is used in a video detection mode. Preliminary noise measurements on two of the array elements resulted in lowest DSB noise temperatures of 83 K (@182 GHz) and 125 K (@184 GHz), with a bandwidth of 32 GHz and 20 GHz respectively