Development of the ALMA-North America sideband-separating SIS mixers

As ALMA nears completion, 73 dual-polarization receivers have been delivered for each of Bands 3 (84–116 GHz) and 6 (211–275 GHz). The receivers use sideband-separating superconducting tunnel-junction (SIS) mixers, developed for ALMA to suppress atmospheric noise in the image band. The mixers were designed taking into account input return loss, dynamic range and signal-to-image conversion (which can degrade the image rejection). Results are given for typical production receivers.