HTSC CHANNELIZED RECEIVER

RECENT ADVANCES IN HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTING (HTSC) THIN FILM TECHNOLOGY ENABLE THE FABRICATION OF LOW-LOSS COMPONENTS THAT WILL IMPROVE THE COST AND PERFORMANCE OF CHANNELIZED RECEIVERS. CHANNELIZED RECEIVERS ARE USED IN SATELLITE TRANSPONDER, ELECTRONIC WARFARE AND ELECTRONICS INTELLIGENCE APPLICATIONS AND ARE COMPRISED OF A GROUP OF NARROW BAND RECEIVERS THAT COVER INDIVIDUAL SLOTS IN A CONTINUOUS FREQUENCY PLAN. EACH RECEVIER REQUIRES ITS OWN COMPACT, NARROW BAND, LOW LOSS AND HIGHLY SELECTIVE FILTER(S). UNFORTUNATELY, WHEN PHYSICAL LOSS IS PRESENT THESE REQUIREMENTS ARE ESSENTIALLY MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE LEADING TO SIGNIFICANT COMPROMISES IN TRADITIONAL DESIGNS. LOW LOSS SUPERCONDUCTING THIN FILMS DEPOSITED ON LOW DIELECTRIC CONSTANT SUBSTRATES PRESENT THE OPPORTUNITY TO BREAK THROUGH THE TRADITIONAL LIMITATIONS OF FILTER DESIGN; MAJOR REDUCTIONS IN SIZE, LOSS AND COST ARE NOW POSSIBLE. THE POTENTIAL OF HTSC COMPONENTS TO IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OF LUMPED ELEMENT FILTERS WILL BE EVALUATED IN PHASE I BY A TEAM LED BY ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY MATERIALS, A LEADER IN HTSC MATERIALS FABRICATION AND DEVICE PROCESSING. WATKINS JOHNSON WILL DESIGN AND ANALYZE THE FILTER ELEMENTS. DURING PHASE II, A PROTOPTYE CHANNELIZED RECEIVER T1BACACUO FILTER BANK WILL BE BUILT AND TESTED AND A COST ESTIMATE FOR FULL-UP SYSTEM DEMONSTRATION WILL BE DEVELOPED. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - THE INNOVATIVE CHANNELIZED RECEIVERS WILL ACHIEVE PERFORMANCE AND COST ADVANTAGES IN HIGH FREQUENCY COMMUNICATION, RADAR AND ELECTRONIC WARFARE SYSTEMS. LOW LOSS, NARROW BANK HTSC FILTERS WILL ENHANCE THE PERFORMANCE OF THE ASSOCIATED CHANNELIZED RECEIVERS FOR SATELLITE TRANSPONDERS AND EW ELECTRONIC SUPPORT MEASURES.