Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Saunders, Jon.
Sapphire dielectric ring resonator operating in "whispering-gallery" mode helps to stabilize frequency and phase of microwave oscillator. Reduces phase noise appreciably at room temperature and promises unprecedented stability of phase at cryogenic temperatures.
Microwave oscillators of proposed new type incorporate suppressed-carrier/negative-feedback feature to reduce phase noise near their carrier frequencies. Concept results in phase noise less than achievable by cryogenically stabilized microwave components or by room-temperature oscillators stabilized by quartz crystals. Implemented in three different versions.
Phase-noise measurements are presented for a microwave oscillator whose frequency is stabilized by a whispering-gallery sapphire ring resonator with Q of 200,000. This mode involves little metallic conduction and allows nearly full use of the very low dielectric loss in sapphire. Several mode families have been identified, in good agreement with frequency calculations. For a 5-cm wheel resonator in a 7.6-cm container, Q values above 100,000 were found at room temperature for all of the modes in this sequence. Coupling Q-values for these same modes ranged from 10,000 (n = 5) to 100,000 (n = 10) for a WR112 waveguide port at the center of the cylinder wall of the containing can. Phase noise measurements for a transistor oscillator locked to the n = 10 (7.84-GHz) mode showed a 1/f cubed dependence for low offset frequencies, and a value of L(f) = -55 dB/Hz at an offset of 10 Hz from the carrier.