Detection of 0.5 THz radiation from intrinsic Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 Josephson junctions

We report the detection of electromagnetic radiation at about 500 GHz from current-biased intrinsic Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 single crystal Josephson junctions. We used two silicon lenses to quasioptically couple radiation from our samples to an integrated superconducting heterodyne receiver. The estimated maximum Josephson radiation power which reached the receiver antenna was about 1 pW. We attribute the observed radiation to individual Josephson junctions of the stack and discuss a possibility of the phase locking of a larger number of junctions. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.