Superconductor ADC for Windsat

The ability to directly digitize high frequency analog radio frequency (RF) signals greatly improves multi-band microwave receivers. Superconductor analog-to-digital converters (ADC) offer discriminating advantages in both bandwidth and fidelity due to very high sampling rates and quantum-accurate digitization based on counting of magnetic flux quanta. Multiple digital-RF receiver systems incorporating superconductor ADCs have been in operation for over two years in field-ready configurations at Government laboratories, and have demonstrated direct digitization of RF signals above 20 GHz. We propose to design, test, and deliver ADCs with increased sampling rates over the 40 GHZ proven in those delivered systems to 100 GHz and 200 GHz. These new ADCs will include proportionately faster on-chip digital and high-quality analog circuits that will allow us to demonstrate hardware prototypes in this Phase II. During Phase I, we built the circuit models and used state-of-the-art simulation tools that validated the roadmap of ADC designs with increasing speed and complexity that meets the needs of spaceborne microwave radiometry and other DoD RF applications.