MgB2 Material Advancements Towards Innovative Astrophysics Technology-Development Phase

Superconducting electronics has become an integral part of NASA's technology portfolio, especially for remote detection across the entire electromagnetic spectrum with unparalleled sensitivity. A particularly important application area includes direct and heterodyne detectors in the submillimeter (terahertz – THz) range for which the low value of the thermal energy in a sensor compared with the quantum energy is required. One major downside of superconducting detectors compared to other technologies is the need to operate at cryogenic temperatures (4 K or less). Significant effort was spent in trying to reproduce the state of the art detectors with the cuprate-based high-temperature superconductors (HTS), which could operate at or above 77 K. The success, however, has been very moderate given the difficulties in fabrication of the HTS compound. Besides, the thermal noise at 77 K is too high for most applications. It is recognized that superconducting materials with an intermediate critical temperature may be a better choice. In 2001, the material Magnesium Diboride (MgB2) was discovered to be superconducting with a transition temperature of 39 K, implying devices that can operate at a moderate 20-25 K. This is a very significant advantage to future NASA missions because there already exist high-heritage space cryocoolers that can achieve this temperature range at relatively low cost. This proposal will help NASA to integrate the new superconducting material into its facilities at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in order to develop better superconducting devices and detectors for future NASA missions. The proposal's key objective is to provide a practical source of thin films of superconducting MgB2. There are several applications of this material, which can ultimately help to realize Science Mission Directorate technological goals. MgB2 is poised to be the material of choice for detectors in many next generation THz heterodyne instruments. Some instrument concepts include GUSSTO (balloon-borne), SHASTA (for SOFIA-airborne), and a heterodyne instrument on Origins Space Telescope (OST-Spaceborne). A 20 K heterodyne instrument could also enable new concepts for smaller Explorer missions. Given the great scarcity of the academic and industrial labs where MgB2 can be synthesized, an internal source for such a material would be very important for NASA in order to take full advantage of its capabilities and associated benefits for future missions. During the concept phase, research was carried out to achieve MgB2 thin films by the Atomic Layer Deposition technique using an existing commercial system at JPL. The progress made is described in this proposal substantiating continued work in that direction. The ALD work had an ancillary result in finding suitable alternatives to a hazardous boron source. Additionally during the concept phase, significant advancements have been made externally on a more proven method of growing MgB2 thin films. The hybrid physical-chemical vapor deposition (HPCVD) process is a high temperature high-pressure process, producing the highest quality superconducting films worldwide. The two major drawbacks to this method are the small sample size and the use of highly hazardous Diborane gas. The development phase of this program would be used to design, procure and build a dedicated HPCVD system for large-area films to be grown at JPL using an alternative boron source, opening many doors to advance the state-of-the-art of superconducting electronics and detectors. The PI is Dr. Daniel Cunnane who has strong expertise in the growth of MgB2, particularly by the CVD technique and has matured multiple technologies using these films. He has successfully fabricated and characterized Josephson junctions, circuits, superconducting quantum interference devices, Josephson mixers, and THz hot electron bolometer detectors using these films.

The program is designed to create a fast throughput Superconducting MgB2 thin film device development process to quickly increase the TRL of Devices made with this unique material. The main Mission drivers are the existing OST mission, along with many future heterodyne instrument concepts (probe class, balloon instruments, etc).

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