Phase noise measurement of a pulsed W-band IMPATT source

A test method is described that uses the Delay Line Bridge (DLB) discriminator as a phase modulation (PM)- or amplitude modulation (AM) detector. A brief discussion is given to explain the different measurement requirements for pulsed sources used in Doppler RADAR with stationary or slow moving transmitter platforms, and fast moving transmitter platforms. A practical solution is offered to the problem of inadequate isolation in present day W-band PIN switches. This measurement set-up, provides a direct measure of the level of spurious oscillations of the IMPATT source, the relative noise content in the turn-on and turn-off region of the RF pulse, and the phase ripple. It also illustrates the influence of reference source injection locking level on the measured characteristics.