An integrated high temperature superconductor microwave system/cryocooler demonstrator

Eight years after the discovery of high temperature superconductors, work is now focused on system development and applications. This paper describes the design and development of a cryogenic microwave receiver which forms part of a stand-alone cooled unit operating at 60K. The receiver comprises a high temperature superconducting (HTS) 11 GHz filter, a mixer and a 10 GHz HTS cavity-stabilized local oscillator. This is integrated with a Stirling cycle cooler and forms part of a demonstrator. The cryogenic receiver shows significantly improved performance when compared with equivalent metal systems operating at room temperature.