Development of a compact sub-millimetre wave SIS receiver for terrestrial atmospheric sounding

A compact 500 GHz SIS heterodyne radiometer is currently being developed at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL), UK. The radiometer can be integrated with a new state-of-the-art balloon borne terahertz and sub-millimetre wave limb sounder (TELIS) and performs remote sounding of key molecular constituents within the Earth's atmosphere. The paper presents the design concept of the receiver and current status of development.