An arbitrary waveform generator based chirped pulse Fourier transform spectrometer operating from 260 to 295GHz

The performance of a chirped-pulse Fourier transform millimeter-wave spectrometer operating from 260 to 295 GHz is described. The spectrometer uses a high-speed arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) to create both a chirped excitation pulse and the single-frequency local oscillator (LO) used for the final down conversion detection stage. The mm-wave excitation source is an active multiplier chain (factor of 24 frequency multiplication) with power output of greater than 10 mW across the 260–295 GHz frequency range. The LO, produced by a separate active multiplier chain (factor of 12 frequency multiplication), drives a subharmonic mixer which downconverts the molecular emission to the microwave region for digitization on a 100 GS/s digital oscilloscope. All frequency sources in the experiment are locked to a 10 MHz Rb-disciplined oscillator providing direct frequency calibration for molecular transitions in the Fourier transform frequency-domain spectrum. Benchmark measurements are presented on ethyl cyanide and 1-butyne and are used to illustrate advantages and tradeoffs compared with direct absorption millimeter-wave spectroscopy.