Ultra-fast wide band spectrum analyzer based on a rapidly tuned spin-torque nano-oscillator

Abstract

A spintronic method of ultra-fast broadband microwave spectrum analysis is proposed. It uses a rapidly tuned spin torque nano-oscillator (STNO) and does not require injection locking. This method treats an STNO generating a microwave signal as an element with an oscillating resistance. When an external signal is applied to this “resistor” for analysis, it is mixed with the signal generated by the STNO. The resulting mixed voltage contains the “sum” and “difference” frequencies, and the latter produces a DC component when the external frequency matches the frequency generated by the STNO. The mixed voltage is processed using a low pass filter to exclude the “sum” frequency components and a matched filter to exclude the dependence of the resultant DC voltage on the phase difference between the two signals. It is found analytically and by numerical simulation that the proposed spectrum analyzer has a frequency resolution at a theoretical limit in a real-time scanning bandwidth of 10 GHz and a frequency scanning rate above 1 GHz/ns, while remaining sensitive to signal power as low as the Johnson-Nyquist thermal noise floor.