Researchers from MIPT and the Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics of the Russian Academy of Sciences have created a terahertz radiation generator based on superconductors. It will become the basis for hypersensitive receivers in telescopes that are planned to be built in the coming decades, MIPT reported.
The institute explained that such generators are needed for the future Russian observatory "Millimetron", as well as for ground-based telescope arrays such as ALMA and the Event Horizon Telescope (which obtained the first image of the shadow of a black hole).
How it works
Modern telescopes capture weak cosmic waves by mixing them with a powerful reference signal from a generator-heterodyne. This is how information is translated to a frequency that electronics can process. Simply put, a weak signal from space is "highlighted" by a powerful local signal so that it can be seen. But the quality of the entire system depends on the stability of this generator.
Scientists from MIPT and RAS used "Josephson junctions" — chains of superconductors that amplify signals. By connecting hundreds of such chains, they achieved synchronous radiation, which helps to capture signals from space.
The generator turned out to be so compact that it, along with other elements of the receiver, was placed on a single chip. This significantly reduced signal loss.
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