On the flicker noise of ferrite circulators for ultra-stable oscillators

Author

Rubiola, Enrico ; Gruson, Yannick ; Giordano, V.

Author_Institution

LPMIA, Univ. Henri Poincare, Nancy, France

fYear

2003

fDate

4-8 May 2003

Firstpage

395

Lastpage

400

Abstract

The flicker noise of the ferrite circulator is a critical element in ultra-stable microwave oscillators, in which the signal reflected from the input of the reference cavity is exploited to stabilize the frequency. This article explains why the circulator noise must be measured in isolation mode, proposes a measurement scheme, and provides experimental results. The observed flicker spans from -162 to -170 dB[rad²]/Hz at 1 Hz off the 9.2 GHz carrier, and at +19 dBm of input power; in the same conditions, the instrument limit is below -180 dB[rad²]/Hz. In addition, the scheme can be used as the phase detector of a corrected oscillator, and in the field of solid-state physics as an instrument for the measurement of random fluctuation in magnetic materials.

Keywords

electric noise measurement; ferrite circulators; ferrite isolators; flicker noise; magnetic materials; mechanical stability; microwave oscillators; phase detectors; random noise; 1 Hz; 9.2 GHz; circulator noise; ferrite circulator; flicker noise; magnetic materials; phase detector; random fluctuation; reference cavity input; solid-state physics; ultrastable microwave oscillators; 1f noise; Circulators; Detectors; Ferrites; Frequency; Instruments; Microwave oscillators; Noise measurement; Phase detection; Solid state circuits;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Frequency Control Symposium and PDA Exhibition Jointly with the 17th European Frequency and Time Forum, 2003. Proceedings of the 2003 IEEE International

ISSN

1075-6787

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7688-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/FREQ.2003.1275124

Filename

1275124