Patent ID: 7369093

Claim:
An antenna for radio-frequency electromagnetic waves, comprising: normally conductive and/or superconducting electrical circuitry with one or more active components, the active components comprising at least one transistor, which is suitable for use at low temperatures; a primary antenna structure; means for supplying the circuitry with electrical power; means for supplying the circuitry with a control current and/or a control voltage; means for emitting an electromagnetic wave from the circuitry; an active cooler which can extract heat from at least a part of the circuitry during operation; and a vacuum vessel which contains at least a part of the circuitry and at least a part of the primary antenna structure and by means of which this part can be thermally isolated from the surrounding area, wherein the vacuum vessel contains a cooling finger of the active cooler, wherein the cooling finger is thermally coupled to at least one normally conductive and/or superconducting waveguide termination of the primary antenna structure, wherein the active components are thermally coupled to the cooling finger, wherein the active components are electromagnetically coupled to the waveguide termination, wherein the vacuum vessel has a window through which electromagnetic waves can pass and is geometrically designed such that an electromagnetic wave can be fed into the waveguide termination, and wherein the active cooler is designed to cool at least a part of the circuitry below a low temperature of 150 Kelvin.