DocumentCode :
667825
Title :
A 15 mW, 4.6 GHz frequency synthesizer ASIC with −85 dBc/Hz at 2 kHz for miniature atomic clocks
Author :
Yazhou Zhao ; Tanner, Steve ; Farine, P.-A. ; Schneller, Luc ; Gruet, Florian ; Affolderbach, Christoph ; Mileti, Gaetano
Author_Institution :
Electron. & Signal Process. Lab., Ecole Polytech. Fed. de Lausanne (EPFL), Neuchatel, Switzerland
fYear :
2013
fDate :
21-25 July 2013
Firstpage :
715
Lastpage :
717
Abstract :
In this paper, we present the characterization results of an optimized 4.6 GHz frequency synthesizer ASIC targeted for miniature atomic clock applications. Fabricated into a 130 nm RF CMOS process, the circuit occupies an active area of 2 mm2 and consumes 15 mW of power. The measured phase noise is about -85 dBc/Hz in the range of 2 kHz to 100 kHz frequency offset from the carrier. The circuit was used as RF synthesizer in an experimental cesium atomic clock setup. The obtained clock stability of 5×10-11 at τ = 1 second corresponds to the stability obtained with a laboratory synthesizer on the same setup, and is limited by the signal-to-noise ratio of the detected CPT signal. The theoretical stability limit due to the ASIC phase noise is 2×10-11 τ -1/2, which is not limiting the measured clock stability.
Keywords :
CMOS integrated circuits; application specific integrated circuits; atomic clocks; field effect MMIC; frequency stability; frequency synthesizers; integrated circuit noise; low-power electronics; phase noise; ASIC phase noise; RF CMOS process; RF synthesizer; cesium atomic clock setup; clock stability; coherent population trapping; frequency 4.6 GHz; frequency synthesizer; miniature atomic clocks; power 15 mW; signal-to-noise ratio; size 130 nm; Application specific integrated circuits; Atomic clocks; Frequency modulation; Frequency synthesizers; Phase noise; Synthesizers; ASIC; PLL; atomic clock; low phase noise; low power; microwave; synthesizer;
fLanguage :
English
Publisher :
ieee
Conference_Titel :
European Frequency and Time Forum & International Frequency Control Symposium (EFTF/IFC), 2013 Joint
Conference_Location :
Prague
Type :
conf
DOI :
10.1109/EFTF-IFC.2013.6702186
Filename :
6702186
Link To Document :
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