The real part of the permittivity (E') and the tan δ of sintered alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) at about 9 GHz have been measured. The dielectric properties have been examined as a function of purity, pore volume, and sintered grain size. The tan δ is found to depend very strongly on the pore volume, purity, and grain size. e' is far less sensitive to impurities and grain size. The dependence of e' on porosity can be described by simple mixture models as expected. A model of losses in single crystals cannot be extended easily to these materials where extrinsic factors such as porosity, random crystal orientation, grain boundaries, microcracks, and impurities dominate. These factors have been studied in an attempt to describe the tan δ and e' of sintered polycrystalline alumina. In this work, the tan δ for alumina has been studied in near-theoretical density ranges between 9.1 x 10 -5 and 2.4 x 10 -5 depending on grain size.

Effect of Porosity and Grain Size on the Microwave Dielectric Properties of Sintered Alumina

We describe and demonstrate a multiloop technique for single-mode selection in an optoelectronic oscillator (OEO). We present experimental results of a dual loop OEO, free running at 10 GHz, that has the lowest phase noise (-140 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz from carrier) of all free-running room-temperature oscillators to date. Finally, we demonstrate the first fiber-optic implementation of the carrier suppression technique to further reduce the close-to-carrier phase noise of the oscillator by at least 20 dB.

Multiloop optoelectronic oscillator

Three distinct techniques exist for distributing an ultrastable frequency reference over optical fibers. For the distribution of a microwave frequency reference, an amplitude-modulated continuous wave (cw) laser can be used. Over kilometer-scale lengths this approach provides an instability at 1 s of ∼3×10−14 without stabilization of the fiber-induced noise and ∼1×10−14 with active noise cancellation. An optical frequency reference can be transferred by directly transmitting a stabilized cw laser over fiber and then disseminated to other optical and microwave regions using an optical frequency comb. This provides an instability at 1 s of 2×10−14 without active noise cancellation and 3×10−15 with active noise cancellation [Recent results reduce the instability at 1 s to 6×10−18.] Finally, microwave and optical frequency references can be simultaneously transmitted using an optical frequency comb, and we expect the optical transfer to be similar in performance to the cw optical frequency transfer. The insta...

Remote transfer of ultrastable frequency references via fiber networks

The outstanding phase-noise performance of optical frequency combs has led to a revolution in optical synthesis and metrology, covering a myriad of applications, from molecular spectroscopy to laser ranging and optical communications However, the ideal characteristics of an optical frequency comb are application dependent In this review, the different techniques for the generation and processing of high-repetition-rate (>10GHz) optical frequency combs with technologies compatible with optical communication equipment are covered Particular emphasis is put on the benefits and prospects of this technology in the general field of radio-frequency photonics, including applications in high-performance microwave photonic filtering, ultra-broadband coherent communications, and radio-frequency arbitrary waveform generation

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/lpor.201300126

Optical frequency comb technology for ultra‐broadband radio‐frequency photonics

Low dielectric loss materials are required for applications in radio‐frequency and microwave communications. Aluminium is the second most abundant element in the Earth’s crust and aluminium oxide (alumina) is one of the commonest ceramics. Single crystals of aluminium oxide, i.e., sapphire, possess one of the lowest dielectric losses of any material. Polycrystalline alumina has a higher loss due to extrinsic factors. The dielectric loss of sintered alumina is studied in an attempt to determine the causes of extrinsic loss. Impurities are shown to play an important role, but the microstructure also is a key factor. High‐purity aluminas, sintered to near theoretical density, are found to display very low loss, tan δ=2.7×10−5 at 10 GHz. Doping alumina with titanium dioxide was found to reduce the tan δ=2×10−5.

/pdf/sintered-alumina-with-low-dielectric-loss-2g5s4h64ik.pdf

Sintered alumina with low dielectric loss

A concept of interferometric measurements has been applied to the development of ultra-sensitive microwave noise measurement systems. These systems are capable of reaching a noise performance limited only by the thermal fluctuations in their lossy components. The noise floor of a real time microwave measurement system has been measured to be equal to -193 dBc/Hz at Fourier frequencies above 1 kHz. This performance is 40 dB better than that of conventional systems and has allowed the first experimental evidence of the intrinsic phase fluctuations in microwave isolators and circulators. Microwave frequency discriminators with interferometric signal processing have proved to be extremely effective for measuring and cancelling the phase noise in oscillators. This technique has allowed the design of X-band microwave oscillators with a phase noise spectral density of order -150 dBc/Hz at 1 kHz Fourier frequency, without the use of cryogenics. Another possible application of the interferometric noise measurements systems include "flicker noise-free" microwave amplifiers and advanced two oscillator noise measurement systems.

Microwave interferometry: application to precision measurements and noise reduction techniques

An advanced phase noise reduction technique has been developed to improve the short-term frequency stability of microwave oscillators. The technique is based upon an ultrasensitive microwave frequency discriminator with effective noise temperature close to its physical temperature. The phase noise spectral density of a 9 GHz microwave loop oscillator incorporating such a discriminator has been measured as -120 dBc/Hz and -150 dBc/Mz at offset frequencies of 100 Hz and 1 kHz, respectively. This performance is at least 25 dB better than current state of the art. The developed phase noise reduction technique is quite general and can have valuable implications for the design of various low phase noise microwave oscillators.

Ultra-low-noise microwave oscillator with advanced phase noise suppression system

A sapphiro-rutile composite resonator was constructed from a cylindrical sapphire monocrystal with two thin disks of monocrystal rutile held tightly against the ends. Because rutile exhibits low loss and an opposite temperature coefficient of permittivity to sapphire, it is an ideal material for compensating the frequency-temperature dependence of a sapphire resonator. Most of the electromagnetic modes in the composite structure exhibited turning points (or compensation points) in the frequency-temperature characteristic. The temperatures of compensation for the WG quasi TM modes were measured to be below 90 K with Q-factors of the order of a few million depending on the mode. For WG quasi TE modes, the temperatures of compensation were measured to be between 100 to 160 K with Q-factors of the order of a few hundreds of thousands, depending on the mode. The second derivatives of the compensation points were measured to be of the order 0.1 ppm/K/sup 2/, which agreed well with the predicted values.

High-Q sapphire-rutile frequency-temperature compensated microwave dielectric resonators

In this paper we report an advanced phase noise reduction technique developed to improve the short term frequency stability of the microwave oscillators. The technique is based upon the ultra sensitive microwave frequency discriminator with the effective noise temperature close to its physical temperature. The frequency discriminator comprises a room temperature sapphire loaded cavity operating on a "whispering gallery" mode with an unloaded Q factor of 185000 at 9 GHz. The phase noise spectral density of the microwave loop oscillator, incorporating such a discriminator as a sensor for the frequency servo, has been measured to be equal to S/sub /spl phi///sup osc/(F)/spl ap/-60-10log/sub 10/(F/sup 3/) dBc/Hz at frequencies below a few kHz. This corresponds to a level of phase noise as low as -120 dBc/Hz and -150 dBc/Hz at offset frequencies 100 Hz and 1 kHz respectively.

Advanced phase noise suppression technique for next generation of ultra low-noise microwave oscillators

The authors report on an X-band microwave oscillator incorporating a room temperature thermoelectric stabilized sapphire resonator operating at 9.00000 GHz. With a Galani type stabilization scheme they have measured a reduced single sideband phase noise of about -124 dBc/Hz at 1 kHz with a f/sup -3/ dependence. The measurement was limited by the flicker noise of the phase detector in the feedback electronics. The frequency stability was also measured; at an integration time of 0.1 seconds a /spl delta/f/f of about 10/sup -11/ with a /spl tau//sup 0.7/ dependence was measured. The frequency drift strongly correlated with ambient temperature fluctuations. >

R.A. Woode

Papers

Microwave interferometry: application to precision measurements and noise reduction techniques

Ultra-low-noise microwave oscillator with advanced phase noise suppression system

High-Q sapphire-rutile frequency-temperature compensated microwave dielectric resonators

Advanced phase noise suppression technique for next generation of ultra low-noise microwave oscillators

Low noise 9-GHz sapphire resonator-oscillator with thermoelectric temperature stabilization at 300 Kelvin