Space qualification mechanical tests of HTS filters for satellite application

Abstract

High performance high-temperature superconducting (HTS) filters have been designed and constructed for satellite application. The filters are actually a superconducting integration of an 8-pole band-pass filter with an adjustable band-stop filter onto a single piece of LaAIO₃ substrate (with dimension of 0.5×45×20 mm³). Typical results of the filters, i.e., Filters A (made by YBCO) & B (made by TBCCO) will be reported. The measured responses of Filter A showed excellent specifications, e.g., an insertion loss less than 0.1 dB, a return loss better than −22.5 dB in pass-band, band-edge steepness greater than 12 dB/MHz and out-of-band rejection at a certain band deeper than −110 dB. To satisfy the requirement of rocket launch and space operation, three filters of the above design have undergone mechanical environmental simulation tests for space qualification. Detailed analysis of the response curves of Filter B measured before and after the tests showed that no noticeable change in the performance can be found. All the filters passed the rigorous ground simulation tests, which is the first time in China for HTS devices and provided a solid foundation for satellite applications of high-temperature superconductors in the near future.