A high stability microwave oscillator based on a sapphire loaded superconducting cavity
- 13 January 2003
- conference paper
- conference paper
- Published by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Abstract
By combining the high mechanical rigidity and low loss tangent of cryogenic sapphire with the excellent shielding and low loss properties of a superconducting cavity, the authors have developed a microwave resonator with both high electrical quality factor and very high intrinsic stability even at relatively high power. They have implemented the sapphire-loaded superconducting cavity resonator in a novel phase-stabilized loop oscillator circuit and achieved Allan variances of around 10/sup -14/ for 1 to 1000 s integrating time. This level of stability is competitive with that of the best hydrogen masers, and in fact is superior for integrating times under a few tens of seconds. An overview of the oscillator system is presented and applications and prospects for further improvement in performance are discussed.Keywords
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