Application development of QC laser for THz band multi-beam heterodyne receiver

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A certain portion of spectral lines from gas species in interstellar mediums, and planetary atmospheres lies in the 1-10 THz frequency band. In the light of analyzing these signals, heterodyne spectroscopy in the field of radio astronomy provides a high frequency resolution that allows us to study the physical and chemical conditions. However, astronomy in the 1-10 THz band has been long unexplored because of the lack of good observing sites and availability of high-sensitivity heterodyne receivers operating in this frequency range. One of the key aspects of future THz-band radio astronomy is the high efficient observations with multibeam receivers. Quantum cascade lasers with output powers in the sub-mW range operating at the 1-10 THz bands are potential candidates as local oscillators for multibeam receivers. In this study, we developed a PLL system to phase-lock such a free running THz-band signal directly by utilizing a superconducting NbTiN-HEB mixer.