High-Frequency Analog Signal Processing with High-Temperature Superconductors

摘要

Several classes of superconductive, passive microwave devices have beendemonstrated at temperatures as high as 77 K using thin films of the high-Tc superconductor YBa2Cu3O7-x. The devices include long delay lines, tapped-delay-line transversal filters with multigigahertz bandwidths and time-bandwidth products as large as 30, and narrowband (from one to three-percent bandwidth) microstrip filters. A GaAs sample-and-hold circuit was also operated at 77 K along with a YBa2Cu3O7-x microstrip delay line to simulate a pre-trigger function and demonstrate the compatibility of semiconductors and high-temperature superconductors at moderate cryogenic temperatures. The successful operation of these superconductive devices demonstrate that thin films of high-temperature superconductors can be patterned into useful devices and the devices illustrate the potential performance advantages superconductive thin films offer to the designer of a high-frequency, wide-bandwidth analog signal processing system.