Compact terahertz passive spectrometer with wideband superconductor-insulator-superconductor mixer

We developed a compact terahertz (THz) spectrometer with a superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixer, aiming to realize a portable and highly sensitive spectrometer to detect dangerous gases at disaster sites. The receiver cryostat which incorporates the SIS mixer and a small cryocooler except for a helium compressor has a weight of 27 kg and dimensions of 200 mm × 270 mm × 690 mm. In spite of the small cooling capacity of the cryocooler, the SIS mixer is successfully cooled lower than 4 K, and the temperature variation is suppressed for the sensitive measurement. By adopting a frequency sweeping system using photonic local oscillator, we demonstrated a spectroscopic measurement of CH(3)CN gas in 0.2-0.5 THz range.     

Quasi-optical diplexer for millimeter wavelengths

A quasi-optical diplexer for injection of signal and local oscillator frequencies into a mixer at millimeter wave-lengths is described. The diplexer accepts both image and signal bands, presents low loss at both the signal and local oscillator frequencies and rejects local oscillator noise at the signal frequency. The configuration of the device makes it particularly useful for Cassegrain receivers using a cooled mixer and a lens corrected feed system. The diplexer has been tested at 150 GHz on the 11-m radio telescope operated by The National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Arizona.     

Development of electron cyclotron emission imaging system on Large Helical Device

A combined system of microwave imaging reflectometry and electron cyclotron emission (ECE) imaging has been developed for the Large Helical Device. This system includes a wide-band two-dimensional horn-antenna mixer array (HMA). The HMA consists of horn antennas, waveguides, mixers, and intermediate frequency circuits. The frequency response of the HMA is between 50 and 110 GHz. The ECE signal is selected using a 95 GHz local oscillator and a 93 GHz high-pass filter.     

Demonstration of a room temperature 2.48-2.75 THz coherent spectroscopy source

We report the first demonstration of a continuous wave coherent source covering 2.48-2.75 THz, with greater than 10% instantaneous tuning bandwidth and having 1-14 μW of output power at room temperature. This source is based on a 91.8-101.8 GHz synthesizer followed by a power amplifier and three cascaded frequency triplers. It demonstrates for the first time that purely electronic solid-state sources can generate a useful amount of power in a region of the electromagnetic spectrum where lasers (solid state or gas) were previously the only available coherent sources. The bandwidth, agility, and operability of this THz source have enabled wideband, high resolution spectroscopic measurements of water, methanol, and carbon monoxide with a resolution and signal-to-noise ratio unmatched by any other existing system, providing new insight in the physics of these molecules. Furthermore, the power and optical beam quality are high enough to observe the Lamb-dip effect in water. The source frequency has an absolute accuracy better than 1 part in 10(12) and the spectrometer achieves sub-Doppler frequency resolution better than 1 part in 10(8). The harmonic purity is better than 25 dB. This source can serve as a coherent signal for absorption spectroscopy, a local oscillator for a variety of heterodyne systems and can be used as a method for precision control of more powerful but much less frequency agile quantum mechanical terahertz sources.     

A multifrequency high-field pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance/electron-nuclear double resonance spectrometer

We describe a pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer operating at several frequencies in the range of 110-336 GHz. The microwave source at all frequencies consists of a multiplier chain starting from a solid state synthesizer in the 12-15 GHz range. A fast p-i-n-switch at the base frequency creates the pulses. At all frequencies a Fabry-Perot resonator is employed and the pi/2 pulse length ranges from approximately 100 ns at 110 GHz to approximately 600 ns at 334 GHz. Measurements of a single crystal containing dilute Mn(2+) impurities at 12 T illustrate the effects of large electron spin polarizations. The capabilities also allow for pulsed electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) experiments as demonstrated by Mims ENDOR of (39)K nuclei in Cr:K(3)NbO(8).     

输入信号的占空比对异或门混频器差频输出的影响

在基于频率输出的传感器测量电路设计中,经常碰到的一个问题是如何高精度测量由测量参数引起的小频率增量。将测量信号和参考信号经过混频器混频,通过低通滤波获得两信号差频输出的方法可解决这个问题。与其他数字混频器相比,异或门混频器在处理两准数字信号差频时有无可比拟的优势。通过理论分析、仿真和实际电路实验,考察了输入信号占空比的变化对异或门混频器差频输出性能的影响。结果表明：两输入信号为占空比50％的方波时,并或门混频器的差频输出性能最佳,滤波电路相对简单;随占空比的变化,异或门混频器的差频输出性能逐渐变差,需要辅以比较复杂的滤波电路。     

A solid-mounted resonator-oscillator-based 4.596 GHz frequency synthesis

This paper describes a 4.596 GHz frequency synthesis based on a 2.1 GHz solid mounted resonator (SMR) voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO). The SMR oscillator presents a chip size lower than 2 mm(2), a power consumption of 18.2 mW, and exhibits a phase noise of -89 dBc/Hz and -131 dBc/Hz at 2 kHz and 100 kHz offset frequencies, respectively. The VCO temperature-frequency dependence is measured to be -14 ppm∕°C over a range of -20°C to 60°C. From this source, a low noise frequency synthesizer is developed to generate a 4.596 GHz signal (half of the Cs atom hyperfine transition frequency) with a phase noise of -81 dBc/Hz and -120 dBc/Hz at 2 kHz and 100 kHz from the carrier. The frequency synthesis output is used as a local oscillator in a Cs vapor microcell-based compact atomic clock. Preliminary results are reported and discussed. To the authors knowledge, this is the first development of a SMR-oscillator-based frequency synthesizer for miniature atomic clocks applications.     

Application of superlattice multipliers for high-resolution terahertz spectroscopy

Frequency multipliers based on superlattice (SL) devices as nonlinear elements have been developed as radiation sources for a terahertz (THz) laboratory spectrometer. Input frequencies of 100 and 250 GHz from backward wave oscillators have been multiplied up to the 11th harmonic, producing usable frequencies up to 2.7 THz. Even at these high frequencies the output power is sufficient for laboratory spectroscopy. Comparisons to conventional high-resolution microwave spectroscopy methods reveal several superior features of this new device such as very high line frequency accuracies, broadband tunability, high output power levels at odd harmonics of the input frequency up to high orders, and a robust applicability.     

Noise floor and dynamic range analysis of a microwave attenuation measurement receiver from 50 MHz to 26.5 GHz

The noise floor and dynamic range of a proposed voltage-ratio based microwave attenuation measurement receiver are analysed. The thermal noise and phase noise effect on attenuation measurement is studied. For frequencies higher than 1 GHz, the receiver employs a lock-in amplifier with a coherent frequency reference to minimize the phase noise effect and achieve very wide dynamic range of attenuation measurement. The equivalent noise floor at the receiver mixer output port is found to be around −172 dBm. The dynamic range of the receiver is 181-175 dB from 50 MHz to 26.5 GHz. Measurement results of a 0-170 dB synthesized step attenuator at 26 GHz is given to verify the performance of the proposed receiver.     

A broadband Fourier transform microwave spectrometer based on chirped pulse excitation

Designs for a broadband chirped pulse Fourier transform microwave (CP-FTMW) spectrometer are presented. The spectrometer is capable of measuring the 7-18 GHz region of a rotational spectrum in a single data acquisition. One design uses a 4.2 Gsampless arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) to produce a 1 mus duration chirped pulse with a linear frequency sweep of 1.375 GHz. This pulse is sent through a microwave circuit to multiply the bandwidth of the pulse by a factor of 8 and upconvert it to the 7.5-18.5 GHz range. The chirped pulse is amplified by a traveling wave tube amplifier and broadcast inside the spectrometer by using a double ridge standard gain horn antenna. The broadband molecular free induction decay (FID) is received by a second horn antenna, downconverted, and digitized by a 40 Gsampless (12 GHz hardware bandwidth) digital oscilloscope. The second design uses a simplified pulse generation and FID detection scheme, employing current state-of-the-art high-speed digital electronics. In this spectrometer, a chirped pulse with 12 GHz of bandwidth is directly generated by using a 20 Gsampless AWG and upconverted in a single step with an ultrabroadband mixer. The amplified molecular emission is directly detected by using a 50 Gsampless digital oscilloscope with 18 GHz bandwidth. In both designs, fast Fourier transform of the FID produces the frequency domain rotational spectrum in the 7-18 GHz range. The performance of the CP-FTMW spectrometer is compared to a Balle-Flygare-type cavity-FTMW spectrometer. The CP-FTMW spectrometer produces an equal sensitivity spectrum with a factor of 40 reduction in measurement time and a reduction in sample consumption by a factor of 20. The CP-FTMW spectrometer also displays good intensity accuracy for both sample number density and rotational transition moment. Strategies to reduce the CP-FTMW measurement time by another factor of 90 while simultaneously reducing the sample consumption by a factor of 30 are demonstrated.     

基于平行板波导的双槽谐振腔的特性研究

为使在太赫兹横电波模式下基于平行板波导的对称的双矩形谐振腔结构在滤波、传感等方面有更好的应用,在理论上使用有限元方法对该结构在太赫兹横电波模式下进行了理论上的模拟仿真,并使用时域太赫兹波谱系统在实验上对其理论仿真结果进行了验证。理论和实验均表明在太赫兹横电波模式下基于平行板波导的对称的双矩形谐振腔结构,对谐振频率的选择以及谐振频率Q值的大小均与两平行板的板间距有关,即随着板间距的增大,谐振频点均出现了红移,红移的速率为136GHz/mm,并且其Q值也随着板间距的增大而变大。此结果对太赫兹横电波模式下基于平行板波导的对称的双矩形谐振腔结构在滤波、传感等方面的应用提供了参数上的依据。     

Cryogenic probe station for on-wafer characterization of electrical devices

A probe station, suitable for the electrical characterization of integrated circuits at cryogenic temperatures is presented. The unique design incorporates all moving components inside the cryostat at room temperature, greatly simplifying the design and allowing automated step and repeat testing. The system can characterize wafers up to 100 mm in diameter, at temperatures <20 K. It is capable of highly repeatable measurements at millimeter-wave frequencies, even though it utilizes a Gifford McMahon cryocooler which typically imposes limits due to vibration. Its capabilities are illustrated by noise temperature and S-parameter measurements on low noise amplifiers for radio astronomy, operating at 75-116 GHz.     

Measurement of optical-beat frequency in a photoconductive terahertz-wave generator using microwave higher harmonics

A new method for measuring optical-beat frequencies in the terahertz (THz) region using microwave higher harmonics is presented. A microwave signal was applied to the antenna gap of a photoconductive (PC) device emitting a continuous electromagnetic wave at about 1 THz by the photomixing technique. The microwave higher harmonics with THz frequencies are generated in the PC device owing to the nonlinearity of the biased photoconductance, which is briefly described in this article. Thirteen nearly periodic peaks in the photocurrent were observed when the microwave was swept from 16 to 20 GHz at a power of -48 dBm. The nearly periodic peaks are generated by the homodyne detection of the optical beat with the microwave higher harmonics when the frequency of the harmonics coincides with the optical-beat frequency. Each peak frequency and its peak width were determined by fitting a Gaussian function, and the order of microwave harmonics was determined using a coarse (i.e., lower resolution) measurement of the optical-beat frequency. By applying the Kalman algorithm to the peak frequencies of the higher harmonics and their standard deviations, the optical-beat frequency near 1 THz was estimated to be 1029.81 GHz with the standard deviation of 0.82 GHz. The proposed method is applicable to a conventional THz-wave generator with a photomixer.     

Microwave radiometer blackbody calibration standard for use at millimeter wavelengths

We describe a high-temperature reference load designed for calibration of microwave radiometers at frequencies of 80-150 GHz. An effective temperature of 410 K and a power reflection coefficient of less than 5 x 10(-4) have been measured at frequencies between 85 and 95 GHz.     

Simultaneous projection and detection system of four different frequencies for microwave imaging reflectometry in Large Helical Device

A simultaneous projection/detection system of four different frequencies for microwave imaging reflectometry (MIR) was developed for three-dimensional observation of electron density fluctuations in the Large Helical Device (LHD). The microwave with four frequency components at 60.410, 61.808, 63.008, and 64.610 GHz is projected in a continuous-wave mode to illuminate the target LHD plasma. A two-dimensional horn-antenna mixer array (2D HMA) receives the reflected wave from the plasma as well as the wave from the local oscillator operating at 55.800 GHz. The first intermediate frequency (IF) signals at 4.610, 6.008, 7.208, and 8.810 GHz were confirmed to be obtained by downconversion of these microwaves using the 2D HMA. Each of these first IF components is filtered from each other and downconverted again for the superheterodyne detection. It was confirmed that both the amplitudes and the phases of the detected signals reflect the fluctuations in LHD plasmas.     

Broadband microwave spectroscopy in Corbino geometry at 3He temperatures

A broadband microwave spectrometer has been constructed to determine the complex conductivity of thin metal films at frequencies from 45 MHz to 20 GHz working in the temperature range from 0.45 K to 2 K (in a (3)He cryostat). The setup follows the Corbino approach: a vector network analyzer measures the complex reflection coefficient of a microwave signal hitting the sample as termination of a coaxial transmission line. As the calibration of the setup limits the achievable resolution, we discuss the sources of error hampering different types of calibration. Test measurements of the complex conductivity of a heavy-fermion material demonstrate the applicability of the calibration procedures.     

Development of a control system for pulsed-electron spin resonance spectrometers

A pulse control and data acquisition system with high time resolution of 300 ps and data-averaging rate of 100 kHz for a pulsed-ESR spectrometer was constructed. The system consists of two sets of 3.34 GHz data timing generator and a dual-channel analog-to-digital converter with 1 GHz samples, both of which are commercially available. We developed a scheme and software to control these equipments with high efficiency in pulsing design, data acquisition, and accurate synchronization of the devices. The system was developed at Ku band (17.5 GHz) and demonstrated some examples of electron spin echo and double quantum measurements.     

D触发器实现差频的输出特性分析

在对频率输出的传感器测量中,经常碰到的一个问题是如何高精度测量由测量参数引起的小频率增量问题。许多研究使用D触发器得到待测的可变频率和参考的固定频率的差频。通过理论分析,对D触发器用于差频时的输出特性进行了研究。结果表明：即使两输入信号的频率固定,D触发器差频输出的周期不唯一。如果一个时钟信号周期的误差不影响到测量精度,D触发器可作为两信号的差频器件。实际应用时,参考信号的频率应大于待测信号频率的最大值,并将其接在“CLK”端。     

纳米精度外差式激光干涉仪非线性误差修正方法研究

提出一种外差干涉非线性误差修正方法,采用混频技术将光频信号降低到通用数据采集系统频率响应范围内;采用高速数据采集板实现外差干涉测量信号和参考信号双通道同步实时采集;对采集数据进行光滑处理,滤除高阶非线性误差;解出位移量对应的相位差。试验结果表明,所提出的修正方法可以较好地修正双频激光干涉仪中存在的非线性误差,使外差干涉仪测量不确定度由原来的20nm降低到10nm。     

Characterization of near-terahertz complementary metal-oxide semiconductor circuits using a Fourier-transform interferometer

Optical methods for measuring of the emission spectra of oscillator circuits operating in the 400-600 GHz range are described. The emitted power from patch antennas included in the circuits is measured by placing the circuit in the source chamber of a Fourier-transform interferometric spectrometer. The results show that this optical technique is useful for measuring circuits pushing the frontier in operating frequency. The technique also allows the characterization of the circuit by measuring the power radiated in the fundamental and in the harmonics. This capability is useful for oscillator architectures designed to cancel the fundamental and use higher harmonics. The radiated power was measured using two techniques: direct measurement of the power by placing the device in front of a bolometer of known responsivity, and by comparison to the estimated power from blackbody sources. The latter technique showed that these circuits have higher emission than blackbody sources at the operating frequencies, and, therefore, offer potential spectroscopy applications.