Search

Heterodyne detection based on interband cascade lasers (ICL) has been demonstrated in a wide range of different applications. However, it is still often limited to bulky tabletop systems using individual components such as dual laser setups, beam shaping elements, and discrete detectors. In this work, a versatile integrated ICL platform is investigated for tackling this issue. A RF-optimized, two-section ICL approach is employed, consisting of a short section typically used for efficient modulation of the cavity field and a long gain section. Such a laser is operated in reversed mode, with the entire Fabry–Pérot waveguide utilized as a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) and the electrically separated short section as detector. Furthermore, a racetrack cavity is introduced as on-chip single-mode reference generator. The field of the racetrack cavity is coupled into the SOA waveguide via an 800 nm gap. By external injection of a single mode ICL operating at the appropriate wavelength, a heterodyne beating between the on-chip reference and the injected signal can be observed on the integrated detector section of the SOA-detector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging spectrum trends require a higher integration of 5G New Radio Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and Frequency Range 2 (FR2) bands to enhance the availability of spectrum and spectrum-sharing opportunities. To enable the reception of both FR1 and FR2 bands in a seamless hardware entity, we propose combining homodyne and heterodyne architectures. This necessitates the incorporation of a down-converter module that transfers the incoming signals from FR2 bands down to FR1, ensuring compatibility with an FR1 direct-conversion receiver (DCR) for the final signal reception. The primary focus of this paper is the design and implementation of the required integrated down-converter. The module includes an integrated balun, a low-noise amplifier (LNA) with a bypass mode, a dual-mode mixer, and an intermediate frequency (IF) amplifier. The introduced bypass mode helps to further elevate the linearity performance compared to the nominal mode. The bypass mode is designed for joint communication and sensing operation to avoid the compression of the receiver. This work also incorporates a local oscillator (LO) signal distribution network with phase tuning elements using a mixed-signal approach. The circuit is implemented in a 22-nm CMOS process, and the active die area is 0.6 mm 2 . The measurements demonstrate that the implemented chip can efficiently perform the required frequency conversion over a wide frequency range of 18–28 GHz. Conversion gain of 4.5–7.5 dB, noise figure of 15–19.7 dB, 1 dB compression point (IP1dB) of − 16 to − 10 dBm, and input third-order intercept point (IIP3) of − 5 to 0 dBm are achieved. The measured IP1 dB and IIP3 for the bypass mode are +0.5 to +4.5 dBm and +8.5 to +10 dBm, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical up-conversion photonic Doppler velocimetry (PDV) based on stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) with an all-fiber link structure is proposed in this article. Because SBS limits the laser power transmitted by a fiber over long distances, the probe does not have enough outgoing light to reach the measured surface and cannot receive the signal light. Traditionally, SBS is avoided, but it is a phase-conjugated light and shifts down relative to the source light, so it can be used as a reference light in the laser interference structure to achieve up-conversion heterodyne velocimetry. Compared with general homodyne velocimetry (DPS), SBS-PDV naturally upconverts and has more interference fringes and higher resolution at low-speed measurement. In the gas multiple reflection impact compression experiment, the velocity measurement results of SBS-PDV and dual-laser heterodyne Velocimetry (DLHV) are basically consistent, and the accuracy is better than 0.8%. Due to its coaxial heterodyne optical path, this kind of photonic Doppler velocimetry is suitable for low-velocity and long-distance practical applications in the field of shock wave physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a new open-loop implementation of Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) that provides access to the Fourier spectrum of the time-periodic surface electrostatic potential generated under optical (or electrical) pumping with an atomic force microscope. The modulus and phase coefficients are probed by exploiting a double heterodyne frequency mixing effect between the mechanical oscillation of the cantilever, modulated components of the time-periodic electrostatic potential at harmonic frequencies of the pump, and an ac bias modulation signal. Each harmonic can be selectively transferred to the second cantilever eigenmode. We show how phase coherent sideband generation and signal demodulation at the second eigenmode can be achieved by using two numerical lock-in amplifiers configured in cascade. Dual-heterodyne KPFM (DHe-KPFM) can be used to map any harmonic (amplitude/phase) of the time-periodic surface potential at a standard scanning speed. The Fourier spectrum (series of harmonics) can also be recorded in spectroscopic mode (DHe-KPFM spectroscopy), and 2D dynamic images can be acquired in data cube mode. The capabilities of DHe-KPFM in terms of time-resolved measurements, surface photovoltage (SPV) imaging, and detection of weak SPV signals are demonstrated through a series of experiments on difference surfaces: a reference substrate, a bulk organic photovoltaic heterojunction thin film, and an optoelectronic interface obtained by depositing caesium lead bromide perovskite nanosheets on a graphite surface. The conclusion provides perspectives for future improvements and applications.

Seismic velocities and elastic moduli of rocks are known to vary significantly with applied stress, which indicates that these materials exhibit nonlinear elasticity. Monochromatic waves in nonlinear elastic media are known to generate higher harmonics and combinational frequencies. Such effects have the potential to be used for broadening the frequency band of seismic sources, characterization of the subsurface, and safety monitoring of civil engineering infrastructure. However, knowledge on nonlinear seismic effects is still scarce, which impedes the development of their practical applications. To explore the potential of nonlinear seismology, we performed three experiments: two in the field and one in the laboratory. The first field experiment used two vibroseis sources generating signals with two different monochromatic frequencies. The second field experiment used a surface orbital vibrator with two eccentric motors working at different frequencies. In both experiments, the generated wavefield was recorded in a borehole using a fiber-optic distributed acoustic sensing cable. Both experiments showed combinational frequencies, harmonics, and other intermodulation products of the fundamental frequencies both on the surface and at depth. Laboratory experiments replicated the setup of the field test with vibroseis sources and showed similar nonlinear combinations of fundamental frequencies. Amplitudes of the nonlinear signals observed in the laboratory showed variation with the saturating fluid. These results confirm that nonlinear components of the wavefield propagate as body waves, are likely to generate within rock formations, and can be potentially used for reservoir fluid characterization.

In this paper, we report on our simulation and design of a photonic integrated circuits (PIC)-based heterodyne optical phase-locked loop (OPLL). Our simulation reveals that the OPLL operation can be in one of three states, i.e., absolutely stable, metastable, and unstable states, depending on the relative position of the initial phase reversal point to the loop bandwidth. By systematically optimizing all of the loop parameters involved, the loop bandwidth of 247.8 MHz and the residual phase noise variance of 0.012 rad2 are theoretically obtained in such a PIC-OPLL system, which are better than any reported counterparts. In addition, the lowest required power of the master laser is also evaluated, assuming that the largest acceptable residual phase noise variance is 0.02 rad2, and it is found that the lowest master laser power is −54 dBm in our current OPLL system, and this value can be reduced to −56 dBm, providing that the summed linewidth is reduced to 10 kHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laser interferometer technology is used in the precision positioning stage as an encoder. For better resolution, laser interferometers usually work with interpolation devices. According to the interpolation factor, these devices can convert an orthogonal sinusoidal signal into several square-wave signals via digital processing. The bandwidth of the processing will be the limitation of the moving speed of the positioning stage. Therefore, the user needs to make a trade-off between the interpolation factor and the moving speed. In this investigation, a novel analog interpolation method for a heterodyne laser interferometer has been proposed. This method is based on the principle of the lock-in amplifier (LIA). By using the proposed interpolation method, the bandwidth of the laser encoder system can be independent of the interpolation factor. This will be a significant benefit for the ultra-high resolution encoder system and the laser interferometers. The concept, design, and experiment are revealed in this manuscript. The experimental results show that the proposed interpolation method can reach nanometer resolution with a heterodyne laser interferometer, and the bandwidth of the signal is independent of the resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical up-conversion photonic Doppler velocimetry (PDV) based on stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) with an all-fiber link structure is proposed in this article. Because SBS limits the laser power transmitted by a fiber over long distances, the probe does not have enough outgoing light to reach the measured surface and cannot receive the signal light. Traditionally, SBS is avoided, but it is a phase-conjugated light and shifts down relative to the source light, so it can be used as a reference light in the laser interference structure to achieve up-conversion heterodyne velocimetry. Compared with general homodyne velocimetry (DPS), SBS-PDV naturally upconverts and has more interference fringes and higher resolution at low-speed measurement. In the gas multiple reflection impact compression experiment, the velocity measurement results of SBS-PDV and dual-laser heterodyne Velocimetry (DLHV) are basically consistent, and the accuracy is better than 0.8%. Due to its coaxial heterodyne optical path, this kind of photonic Doppler velocimetry is suitable for low-velocity and long-distance practical applications in the field of shock wave physics.

We demonstrated the bandwidth broadening of terahertz waves detected by heterodyne electro-optical sampling by implementing a ridge waveguide structure in a lithium niobate (LiNbO _3 ) crystal. Such an approach effectively reduces absorption loss, eases the phase matching condition and enhances the nonlinear interaction length through the optical confinement effect. As a result, we have more than doubled the bandwidth and improved the signal-to-noise ratio compared with an equivalent approach in a bulk LiNbO _3 crystal. Heterodyne electro-optic sampling in a ridged-waveguide structure is only marginally dependent on the probe beam wavelength, suggesting its potential as a versatile method for broadband terahertz detection.

In this paper a control method for a matrix converter (MC) based on the heterodyne concept from the communication field is presented. The method is used to convert the high frequency of a microturbine generator’s (MTG) output voltage to the utility grid’s frequency. In this control method a frequency modulation (FM) of the MC’s switching frequency is achieved using a DQ0 analysis of the converter’s filtered output voltage with the utility grid’s frequency as a reference. After filtration, the MC achieves a conversion to the reference frequency with a minimal total harmonic distortion (THD) of the output voltage while using a low switching frequency. In addition, the proposed method decouples the output frequency, phase angle and voltage amplitude, which allows them to be controlled separately. This significantly simplifies the required control, and enables a robust and low-cost design. The theoretical analysis, simulation and experimental results of the method are reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 16-pixel terahertz (THz) receiver front-end working at room temperature was designed, built, and measured in this paper. The designed receiver front-end is based on the antenna-coupled AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) THz linear detector array (TeraLDA) and a 16-way THz power divider. The local oscillator (LO) signal is divided by the power divider into 16 ways and transmits to the TeraLDA. Each detector contains a planar unified antenna printed on a 150 μ m -thick sapphire substrate and a transistor fabricated on AlGaN/GaN heterostructure. There are 16 silicon hemispheric lenses located on the TeraLDA to increase the responsivity of the TeraLDA. The focus of each lens is aligned in the center of the TeraLDA pixels. Depending on different read out circuits, the receiver front-end could work in homodyne and heterodyne modes. The 16-way power divider is a four-stage power divider that consists of fifteen same 2-way dividers, and was fabricated by bulk silicon microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology to achieve low insertion loss (IL). This designed receiver front-end could be a key component of a THz coherent focal plane imaging radar system, that may play a crucial role in nondestructive 3D imaging application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We devised a novel two-step reference scheme that can greatly suppress the additive and convolutional noises in heterodyne nonlinear spectroscopy. To optimally remove additive noise, we fully utilized the spectral correlation in multi-channel reference data through a linear combination and regression algorithm. Using our pump-probe 2D IR spectrometer, we demonstrated that our scheme can improve the signal-to-noise ratio by 10-30 times and reach the noise floor of the signal detector. The new algorithm is guaranteed to reduce noise, enables the use of unmatched reference detectors, and does not introduce baseline shift or signal distortion. This scheme is applicable to many heterodyne spectroscopic techniques.

Laser interferometer technology is used in the precision positioning stage as an encoder. For better resolution, laser interferometers usually work with interpolation devices. According to the interpolation factor, these devices can convert an orthogonal sinusoidal signal into several square-wave signals via digital processing. The bandwidth of the processing will be the limitation of the moving speed of the positioning stage. Therefore, the user needs to make a trade-off between the interpolation factor and the moving speed. In this investigation, a novel analog interpolation method for a heterodyne laser interferometer has been proposed. This method is based on the principle of the lock-in amplifier (LIA). By using the proposed interpolation method, the bandwidth of the laser encoder system can be independent of the interpolation factor. This will be a significant benefit for the ultra-high resolution encoder system and the laser interferometers. The concept, design, and experiment are revealed in this manuscript. The experimental results show that the proposed interpolation method can reach nanometer resolution with a heterodyne laser interferometer, and the bandwidth of the signal is independent of the resolution.

In this paper, we report on our simulation and design of a photonic integrated circuits (PIC)-based heterodyne optical phase-locked loop (OPLL). Our simulation reveals that the OPLL operation can be in one of three states, i.e., absolutely stable, metastable, and unstable states, depending on the relative position of the initial phase reversal point to the loop bandwidth. By systematically optimizing all of the loop parameters involved, the loop bandwidth of 247.8 MHz and the residual phase noise variance of 0.012 rad2 are theoretically obtained in such a PIC-OPLL system, which are better than any reported counterparts. In addition, the lowest required power of the master laser is also evaluated, assuming that the largest acceptable residual phase noise variance is 0.02 rad2, and it is found that the lowest master laser power is −54 dBm in our current OPLL system, and this value can be reduced to −56 dBm, providing that the summed linewidth is reduced to 10 kHz.

The Kuroshio Current (KC) and Kuroshio Current Extension (KCE) form a western boundary current as part of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. This current plays an important role in regulating weather and climate dynamics in the Northern Hemisphere in part by controlling the delivery of moisture to the lower atmosphere. Previous studies indicate the KCE responded dynamically across glacial and interglacial periods throughout the Pliocene‐Pleistocene. However, the response of the KCE during Pleistocene super‐interglacials has not been examined in detail. We present a ∼2.2 Ma record of X‐ray fluorescence elemental data from Ocean Drilling Program Hole 1207A and employ hierarchical clustering techniques to demonstrate paleoenvironmental changes around the KCE. Time‐frequency analysis identifies significant heterodyne frequencies, which suggests there were nonlinear interactions between high‐latitude and low‐latitude climate regulating expansion and contraction of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre prior to the onset of the Mid‐Pleistocene Climate Transition (MPT). We observe two periods of elevated ln Ca/Ti, which may represent sustained warmth with northward migrations of the KCE in the northwestern Pacific. These intervals correspond to Marine Isotope Stages 29‐25, 15, and 11‐9 and occur around recent climatic transitions, the MPT and Mid‐Brunhes Event. Northward expansion of the subtropical gyre during these exceptionally warm interglacials would have delivered more heat and moisture to the high latitudes of the northwest Pacific. Furthermore, enhanced evaporation from the warm KCE vented to the lower atmosphere may have preconditioned the Northern Hemisphere for ice volume growth during two of the most recent periods of climate transition. Key Points: Nonlinear influences on northwest Pacific oceanic circulation during the 41‐kyr worldPronounced periods of warmth during MIS 29‐25, 15, 11‐9 under a colder climate regimeChanges in North Pacific Subtropical Gyre correspond to extreme Arctic warming events [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Milliwatt average power terahertz quantum cascade lasers (THz-QCLs, 2 THz to 5 THz) have been developed for spectroscopy and as local oscillators for heterodyne receivers. Novel DFB THz-QCLs have been fabricated and show single-mode operation. The narrow line widths of

Milliwatt average power terahertz quantum cascade lasers (THz-QCLs, 2 THz to 5 THz) have been developed for spectroscopy and as local oscillators for heterodyne receivers. Novel DFB THz-QCLs have been fabricated and show single-mode operation. The narrow line widths of

There are two main types of carbon nanotubes (CNTs): metallic and semiconducting. Naturally grown CNTs are randomly distributed, posing challenges in distinguishing between the two types. Here, a novel approach for nanoscale high-resolution imaging and identification of CNTs was introduced by incorporating the heterodyne technique into high-harmonic electrostatic force microscopy (HH-EFM) on an atomic force microscopy (AFM) platform. In the developed heterodyne HH-EFM, a more localized high-order gradient of tip-sample nonlinear interaction force is used as signal channels, resulting in an improved spatial resolution, compared to the conventional HH-EFM. Furthermore, the heterodyne HH-EFM also has the capability to visualize material carrier density and assess qualitative carrier transport performance. Our work not only presents a new approach to identifying/exploring electrical properties of low-dimensional nanomaterials but also provides a solution for optimizing resolution in long-range interaction-based functional AFM technologies.

Seismic velocities and elastic moduli of rocks are known to vary significantly with applied stress, which indicates that these materials exhibit nonlinear elasticity. Monochromatic waves in nonlinear elastic media are known to generate higher harmonics and combinational frequencies. Such effects have the potential to be used for broadening the frequency band of seismic sources, characterization of the subsurface, and safety monitoring of civil engineering infrastructure. However, knowledge on nonlinear seismic effects is still scarce, which impedes the development of their practical applications. To explore the potential of nonlinear seismology, we performed three experiments: two in the field and one in the laboratory. The first field experiment used two vibroseis sources generating signals with two different monochromatic frequencies. The second field experiment used a surface orbital vibrator with two eccentric motors working at different frequencies. In both experiments, the generated wavefield was recorded in a borehole using a fiber-optic distributed acoustic sensing cable. Both experiments showed combinational frequencies, harmonics, and other intermodulation products of the fundamental frequencies both on the surface and at depth. Laboratory experiments replicated the setup of the field test with vibroseis sources and showed similar nonlinear combinations of fundamental frequencies. Amplitudes of the nonlinear signals observed in the laboratory showed variation with the saturating fluid. These results confirm that nonlinear components of the wavefield propagate as body waves, are likely to generate within rock formations, and can be potentially used for reservoir fluid characterization.

Radio frequency (RF), microwave, and millimeter-wave (mmW) multiport interferometric receivers present a competitive solution for the front-end reception of low-power multistandard and multifunction wireless applications. The systematic generation of rectified waves in a conventional direct-conversion interferometric receiver is highly related to temporal and power changes and the number of subsignals in the frequency band of interest. It can cause the receiver to saturate and, thus, requires auxiliary power-hungry tunable amplifiers and a data converter for compensation. This work presents a heterodyne detection in an RF/microwave interferometric receiver, the first of its kind, which separates the desired frequency signals from the rectified wave components with two output ports through a frequency offset. This architecture also makes use of the field-effect transistor (FET)-based power detectors to combine the received and reference signals, which reduces a theoretical multiport junction loss of 6 dB to 3 dB. In this way, the proposed receiver is set to support the development of an ultralow-power concurrent dual-band wireless system using a single wave-correlator circuit. A mathematical model of the proposed system is derived and subsequently prototyped using off-the-shelf components to evaluate its carrier-to-noise power ratio (CNR) and error vector magnitude (EVM) performances, which can be extended for integrated circuits (ICs) implementation, such as CMOS and III–V ICs. The power detectors only require a bias voltage at gate terminals with zero direct current (dc) power consumption for optimum voltage responsivity and CNR performances. The demodulation of various modulated digital signals, including QPSK, QAM-16, QAM-32, and QAM-64, has been successfully demonstrated in the 24- and 28-GHz mmW frequency bands at 4 MSps of the symbol rate with a maximum EVM of 11.43% root-mean-square (rms) free from any postprocessing linearization and calibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to meet the demands of myopia prevention, as well as the increasing needs of measurement for refractive and cataract operations in China, a new axial length (AL) measurement system combining an improved Twyman‐Green interferometer with digital signal processing has been established. The ALs of 33 eyes of different optical refractive subjects (−8.50 ~ 0.50 D) were measured with the New AL and intraocular lens (IOL) master. The repeatability of measurements with the New AL was assessed using coefficient of variation (CoV) and intra‐group correlation coefficient (ICC). Comparison, correlation, linear regression and agreement of AL between devices were analyzed. There was good repeatability (CoV = 0.0617%, ICC = 0.9999) with the New AL and great agreement has been obtained with both devices. These show that the New AL is capable of providing precise AL values over the normal AL range compared to the IOL master, and indicate that the New AL developed can be used for routine clinical AL measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To carry out calculations involved in the design of a microwave mixer with a diplexer with the formation of the antiphase heterodyne signal using a slot resonator.Method In order to calculate and optimise the characteristics, design and topological parameters of microwave mixers, the results of the design bandpass filter PF and low-pass filter (LPF) mixers of through-feed type were used. The characteristics of mixers and their structural elements were calculated using the Serenade software package intended for the automated calculation of microwave devices. A distinct feature of designing mixers (with a diplexer) involves the need to optimise the topology of the diplexer before optimising the mixer characteristics.Results The characteristics of nonlinear distortions show that the maximum power level at the mixer inlet should not exceed -15 – -20 dBm. In order to attenuate the intermodulation distortions of the 3rd order, this level should be higher that 50 dBs. The relatively low level of compression and suppression of harmonic and intermodulation distortions associated with the minimisation of the heterodyne power level at the calculation of characteristics of mixers of the required heterodyne power level (Rh ~ 5-7 dBm) is due to the minimum expenses at the realisation of sources of heterodyne signals. A noticeable improvement in the characteristics of mixers by nonlinear distortions can be achieved by shifting the operating point at the points on the current-voltage characteristic (VAC) diodes by an external voltage source with a simultaneous increase in Ph by several dB (up to Ph = 10 dBm).Conclusion A mode of increased nonlinear distortion suppression can be practically realised by switching on diodes through resistive-capacitive circuits (auto-shift) or using diodes with an increased potential barrier. The calculation shows that it is possible to realise sufficiently small conversion losses of 6.6-8.0 dB at low levels of Rh ~ 5-7 dBm.

In this research, design and fabrication of an integrated heterodyne electrooptic modulator in lithium niobate have been presented. In this modulator, the waveguide is made by using proton exchange process; to exert two high frequency signals, deposited electrodes with Mach-Zender arms between them are used. In this method, every electrical signal is applied on one of the Mach-Zender arms, so that it can be stimulated by one specific frequency; these two signals are united optically to create frequencies equal to sum and subtraction of the input signal frequencies in the output. Also, by using finite element method, the influence of proton diffusion scale in the output light mode, electrode dimension, and configuration in the overlap integral of the light mode and electrical field, as well as electrode impedance, is estimated.

We report recent results obtained with a novel optical fiber experimental setup based on a heterodyne optical time-domain reflectometer in the context of FPU recurrence process. Moreover, we actively compensate the dissipation of the system. We show that we can observe several FPU recurrences by monitoring the power and relative phase evolutions of the main discrete frequency components involved in the process.

With the rapid development of micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS), the high-precision measurement technology applied to MEMS devices becomes increasingly important. Traditional micro scale measurement techniques such as scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), and scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) are widely used in measuring the surface topography and local deformation of MEMS. However, these scanning-based measurement technologies are difficult to achieve full-field and dynamic detection, and they are easy to cause damages to the measured object. In this paper, the microscopic speckle interferometry and heterodyne technology are combined to realize the measurement of constant velocity of MEMS. We presented the experimental principle of temporal heterodyne microscopic speckle interferometry, and measured the real-time motion of MEMS, which verified the feasibility of this method. The experimental results prove that our method has the advantages of real-time, full-field, good noise immunity and low-cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a reflectometer-based on-chip dielectric sensor with integrated transducers at 240 GHz. The chip simplifies the measurement of a vector network analyzer (VNA) to sense the incident and reflected waves by using two heterodyne mixer-based receivers with a dielectric sensing element. Radio frequency (RF) and local oscillator (LO) submillimeter waves are generated by two frequency multiplier chains, respectively. Two back-to-back identical differential side-coupled directive couplers are proposed to separate the incident and reflected signals and couple them to mixers. Both transmission line and coplanar stripline transducers are proposed and integrated with reflectometer to investigate the sensitivity of dielectric sensors. The latter leads to a larger power variation of the reflectometer by providing more sufficient operating bands for the magnitude and phase slope of $S_{11}$. The readout of the transducers upon exposure to liquids is performed by the measurement of their reflected signals using two external excitation sources. The experimental dielectric sensing is demonstrated by using binary methanol–ethanol mixture placed on the proposed on-chip dielectric sensor in the assembled printed circuit board. It enables a maximum 8 dB of the power difference between the incident and reflected channels on the measurement of liquid solvents. Both chips occupy an area of 4.03 mm2 and consume 560 mW. Along with a wide operational frequency range from 200 to 240 GHz, this simplified one-port-VNA-based on-chip device makes it feasible for the use of handle product and suitable for the submillimeter-wave dielectric spectroscopy applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fractional-N phase-locked loops (PLLs) offer a low-cost solution to the precision frequency ramp requirements of frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar. Regrettably, however, these PLLs are known to produce undesirable spurii in their synthesized output. A subset of these spurii has recently been shown to manifest as frequency chirps, also known as spur chirps, in the deramped beat signal. These so-called spur chirps give rise to Fresnel ripples in the range domain after standard Fourier processing. Spur chirps are of particular concern for heterodyne receiver systems because the Fresnel ripples may appear at levels that far exceed the noise floor. In this article, the authors present guidelines for the avoidance of spur chirps and identify existing interference suppression techniques that are transferable to this problem. Furthermore, the authors put forward a novel technique termed range-Doppler spur masking (RDSM) that was designed specifically for the suppression of spur chirps. The developed technique was applied to both the simulated and measured synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. Simulations reveal that RDSM significantly outperforms time-domain zeroing in terms of peak sidelobe ratio (PSLR) and other metrics. When applied to the measured data, RDSM is shown to eliminate the effects of the spur chirps in SAR imagery when masking only 0.15% of the available Doppler bins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a detailed characterization of noise sources in multiple reference optical coherence tomography (MR-OCT) compared to time-domain OCT (TD-OCT). The noise characteristics were modeled based on the TD-OCT noise model and modified for MR-OCT and confirmed with measurements. The MR-OCT sensitivity characteristics are significantly affected by the reflection from the partial mirror, which also introduces a natural attenuation in the reference arm, partially matching the reflectivity intensity profile of human tissue. At optimal balance between sample and reference arm and using balanced detection, the peak sensitivity was measured to be 95 dB, which is close to simple Fourier-domain systems. The results provide a better understanding of the application range for MR-OCT and higher order effects observed, suggesting a nontrivial noise model for MR-OCT.

Hybrid frequency synthesizers based on direct methods of digital and analog synthesis were examined. The possibilities of applying synthesizers as heterodynes of modern spectrum analyzers built on the superheterodyne plan were studied. The possibility of using a hybrid synthesizer as the heterodyne of the first cascade of spectrum analyzers was analyzed. The requirements for heterodynes of the first cascades of the mixing of spectrum analyzers are provided. A structural diagram of a broadband heterodyne generating frequencies in the range 4000–8000 MHz with a step not exceeding 1 Hz is presented. Formulas to calculate the fundamental frequency relations in the heterodyne structure were developed. A mathematical model of the power spectrum density of phase noises as a function of the offset frequency from the carrier was developed. With the aid of the created model, the noise characteristics of the proposed layout was examined. It is shown that at offset frequencies over 1 kHz from the carrier, a hybrid synthesizer based on direct digital and analog methods of synthesis has an advantage at a phase noise level 5–30 dB over low-noise heterodynes of modern spectrum analyzers. The advantages of the suggested layout by which the hybrid synthesizer is capable of improving the technical characteristics of modern spectrum analyzers are defined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A compact all-fiber polarization coherent Lidar is demonstrated to simultaneously measure the velocity and depolarization ratio. In the Lidar system, a dual-polarization light beam is generated in a polarization modulator (PolM). The light beam consists of a linearly polarized optical carrier and an optical sideband with an orthogonal polarization state. If the light is depolarized, the polarization directions of the optical carrier and the sideband are rotated. Both of them can be detected along the polarization direction of the original optical carrier. In the receiver, the backscattered light along the polarization direction of the original optical carrier is selected and beats with a frequency-shifted optical local oscillator (LO) signal at a photodetector. A beat signal consisting of two single-frequency components will be generated. The velocity is extracted from the frequencies of the two single-frequency components, while the depolarization ratio can be extracted from the intensity ratio of the two single-frequency components. An experiment is carried out, in which a 159-MHz signal is applied to the PolM, and an 80-MHz signal is used to produce the frequency-shifted optical LO. Two single-frequency signals at 80 and 79 MHz are generated at the receiver and used to simultaneously measure the velocity and depolarization of a target in real time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a packaged SiGe BiCMOS reflectometer for 0.01–26-GHz two-port vector network analyzers (VNAs). The reflectometer chip is composed of a resistive bridge coupler and two wideband heterodyne receivers for coherent magnitude and phase detection. In addition, a high-linearity receiver channel is designed to accommodate ~20 dBm of RF input power to the reflectometer. External sources are used to provide stimulus over the entire bandwidth, and a high-linearity shunt 50- $\Omega $ switch is placed at the input of each reflectometer chip to provide a matched condition for better measurement accuracy. The measured dynamic range (DR) of the heterodyne receiver is 129±3 dB at 0.01–26 GHz at an IF resolution bandwidth (RBW) of 10 Hz. The reflectometer chip is packaged on a low-cost printed circuit board (PCB) and connectorized for repeatable measurements. Several passive and active device-under-test (DUTs), such as filters and amplifiers, are measured in single- and dual-port complex $S$ -parameter setup at 0.01–26 GHz. The single-chip reflectometer results in excellent agreement with commercially available test equipment and with minimal magnitude and phase difference. Several definitions (mean deviation and error vector) are used to quantify the measurement accuracy. A measured $S_{21}$ of −80 dB is obtained using high-rejection filters. An in-depth DR analysis of possible limiting factors in the measurement setup is also presented. This article shows that silicon-based highly integrated reflectometers can be used in low-cost VNAs with excellent DR and accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of novel high-gradient accelerating structures operating at THz frequencies is critical for future free-electron lasers and TeV scale linear colliders. To reach high energies with reasonable length requires high accelerating gradients of ~100 MV/m. The main limitation to reaching these high-energy gradients is the vacuum RF breakdown phenomenon, which disrupts normal accelerator operations. For stable operations and to understand the breakdown microscopic dynamics, a new device capable of detecting the breakdown occurrences is required. In this paper, we provide the design of a pulse length monitor based on an analog to digital converter for fast signal digitization without the need to use high-speed digitizers to be used in a commercial mm-wave heterodyne spectrometer.

A high-resolution electrical method is proposed for magnitude-frequency response measurement of optical filters based on fixed-low-frequency heterodyne detection. The method consists of an acousto-optic frequency shifter and two phase modulators located in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer architecture. The modulation sidebands in the test arm pass through the optical filter under test and heterodyne with the frequency-shifted modulation sidebands in the reference arm, which allows extracting the magnitude-frequency response of the optical filter from two fixed-frequency heterodyne electrical components in the low-frequency region. In the demonstration, the magnitude-frequency response of a phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is experimentally extracted from low-frequency heterodyne signals fixed at 69.5 and 70.5 MHz, respectively, with hyperfine resolution up to 50 kHz and wide frequency range of 140 GHz. The proposed electrical method enables wideband magnitude-frequency response measurement for both band-pass and band-stop filters with low-frequency detection. Moreover, it features not only the immunity to modulation nonlinearity but the bidirection sweeping with doubled measurement range as well. Besides, the method only needs to receive and analyze low-frequency signals at two fixed frequencies, which largely speeds up the swept frequency measurement.

We designed and demonstrated a power-efficient highly integrated photonic system, requiring a total power consumption of 1.7 W and producing a spectrally pure coherent optical signal with a wavelength range of 23 nm in the C-band. The system consists of a compact, low-power InP-based photonic integrated coherent receiver, microresonator-based Kerr frequency comb, and agile electronic circuits. The photonic coherent receiver contains a 60-nm widely tunable Y-branch local oscillator (LO) diode laser, a coupler, and a pair of photodetectors. It consumes record-low (approximately 184 mW) electrical power. The optical frequency comb reference has excellent spectral purity,

An all-fiber acousto-optic frequency shifter (AOFS) based on an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) cascaded with a packaged tapered fiber (TF)-coupled microsphere was proposed and demonstrated in both theory and experiment. The configuration has the advantages of easy alignment, robustness, compact size, and low cost, which will improve its further application, such as in the optical heterodyne detection technique (OHDT).