Phase-locked Backward Wave Oscillator Research Articles

Design and Measurement of a Digital Phase Locked BWO for Accurately Extracting the Quality Factors in a Biconcave Resonator System

A long loop phase locked backward-wave oscillator (BWO) for a high quality factor resonator system operating at D-band frequencies (130–170GHz) was described, the phase noise of the phased locked BWO was analyzed and measured at typical frequencies. When it used with a high quality factor open resonator for measuring the quality factor of simple harmonic resonators based on the magnitude transfer characteristic, this system has proven to be capable of accurate measuring the quality factor as high as 0.8 million with an uncertainty of less than 1.3% (Lorentzian fitting) at typical frequencies in the range of 130GHz–170GHz.

Phase Locked BWO System for Open Resonator Measurement in D-Band

The combination of a D-Band phase-locked backward-wave oscillator (BWO) with a spectrum analyzer for measurement of permittivity and low loss-tangent is presented. For measuring low loss tangent material, such as CVD diamond and high purity semi-insulating (HPSI) 4H-SiC , at millimeter wave ranges, it is necessary to precisely measure an increase of a few kHz in a line-width of 200 kHz. We describe a phase-locked loop with frequency conversion that combines a BWO source and a microwave spectrum analyzer to obtain line-width measurements with less than 2 kHz (less than 1%) standard deviation in D-Band millimeter wave.

Technique of Broadband Measurements of Frequency Conversion Efficiency for Each Harmonique in Frequency Multipliers up to Terahertz Range

The paper describes technique of quantitative analysis of a millimeter- and submillimeter-wave range multipliers performance in particular the measurement of the frequency conversion efficiency. The output power on each harmonic produced by the multiplier can be measured separately without any changes in the setup even in the case of simultaneous emission of all harmonics including the fundamental in a frequency range up to 1 THz and well above. The measuring technique primarily developed for high resolution microwave spectroscopy is based on absorption of radiation in spectral lines of rarefied sample gas and photo-acoustic method of the absorption detection. Sensitivity independence of the detection method on frequency and well known spectral parameters of the lines provide the technique with broadbandness, high spectral resolution and power measurement reliability. Principal limits of measurable radiation power may vary from nanowatts up to hundreds of watts. The technique permits real time operation convenient, e.g., for multiplier tuning. Practical examples include measurements of harmonic generation efficiency of multipliers of 78-118 GHz fundamental frequency range, and power measurement up to 6-th harmonic of 230 GHz fundamental radiation of phase locked Backward Wave Oscillator (BWO).

Phase locked backward wave oscillator pulsed beam spectrometer in the submillimeter wave range

We have developed a new submillimeter wave pulsed molecular beam spectrometer with phase stabilized backward wave oscillators (BWOs). In the frequency ranges of 260–380 and 440–630 GHz, the BWOs output power varies between 3 and 60 mW. Part of the radiation was coupled to a novel designed harmonic mixer for submillimeter wavelength operation, which consists of an advanced whiskerless Schottky diode driven by a harmonic of the reference synthesizer and the BWO radiation. The resulting intermediate frequency of 350 MHz passed a low noise high electron mobility transistor amplifier, feeding the phase lock loop (PLL) circuit. The loop parameters of the PLL have been carefully adjusted for low phase noise. The half power bandwidth of the BWO radiation at 330 GHz was determined to be as small as 80 MHz, impressively demonstrating the low phase noise operation of a phase locked BWO. A double modulation technique was employed by combining an 80 Hz pulsed jet modulation and a 10–20 kHz source modulation of the BWO and reaching a minimum detectable fractional absorption of 2×10−7. For the first time, a number of pure rotational (Ka=3←2, Ka=4←3) and rovibrational transitions in the van der Waals bending and stretching bands of the Ar–CO complex were recorded.

Frequency measurement of theP13−P03fine-structure transition ofMg24

A frequency measurement of the fine-structure transition $^{3}P_{1}\ensuremath{-}^{3}P_{0}$, $\ensuremath{\Delta}{m}_{j}=0$ in the first metastable triplet of $^{24}\mathrm{Mg}$ is reported. The experiment has been performed on a metastable atomic beam interacting with the submillimetric radiation ($\ensuremath{\lambda}\ensuremath{\simeq}0.5$ mm) of a phase-locked backward wave oscillator. The transition is observed via the fluorescence emission at 4571 \AA{} of the intercombination line $^{3}P_{1}\ensuremath{-}^{1}S_{0}$. The center frequency was evaluated to be $\ensuremath{\nu}=601277.16\ensuremath{\mp}0.05$ MHz with precision limited by first-order Doppler effect.

A Stable Tunable Microwave Source

This paper describes a prototype model of a phase-stabilized backward wave oscillator (BWO). The BWO is locked to a harmonic of a crystal oscillator by employing an automatic phase control loop. Tuning is accomplished by pulling the crystal oscillator and switching different crystals into the oscillator circuit. Power spectrum plots are taken in open-and closed-loop conditions, and methods of analyzing these plots are described. With the proper loop bandwidth, the BWO will assume the frequency stability of the reference oscillator. The phase-locked BWO is analyzed by a conventional feedback control technique. Each element in the loop is assigned a transfer function. From this the open-loop transfer function is determined. It is then shown that the improvement in short-term frequency stability is directly proportional to the open-loop transfer function and, hence, the open-loop gain. Utilizing plots of the absolute magnitude and phase angle of the open-loop gain vs. frequency, conclusions are drawn as to the maximum amount of gain which is possible while still maintaining system stability. Possible implementation of a series equalizer is considered in conjunction with this. Comments are also made on the relationship of the closed-loop bandwidth to the system lock-in range and system response to incremental changes in frequency.