A K-Band Ruby Maser with 500-MHz Bandwidth (Short Papers)

Engineering improvements to a previously described reflected- wave maser design have resulted in an instantaneous 3-dB band-width of 400 MHz at 19.5 GHz, increasing to 560 MHz at 24 GHz. Nominal gain is 27 to 31dB and gain flatness is ±2.5 dB over this tuning range. Noise temperature variation across the passband is less than ±1.5 K and the effective noise temperature referred to the room temperature input flange ranges from 9.5±4 K to 13.5±4 K over the 18.5- to 25-GHz tuning range.