Microwave Photonic Characterization of High Temperature Superconducting Optoelectronic Devices

Abstract

The increasing demand for high performance communications systems and signal processing is constantly driving researchers to develop novel devices in both the microwave and optical domains. The possibility of using high temperature superconductors (HTS) as a platform for ultra-fast, ultra-high sensitive optoelectronic and microwave photonic devices has been explored. This report introduces a cryogenic microwave photonic probe station, designed and built to characterize HTS microwave photonic devices. A methodology is presented to design coplanar waveguide transmission lines using HTS. The transmission line is then modified to include a meander line structure to serve the optoelectronic function. The device is characterized in several different operating domains, as an optically tunable microwave resonator, an optically tunable delay line, and finally as a photodetector. A planar HTS weak leak structure is investigated with the measurements of the I-V characteristics. Moreover, this device is proposed as the next generation platform to fabricate ultra-fast and ultra-high sensitive photodetectors using HTS.