Residual phase noise measurements of VHF, UHF, and microwavecomponents

摘要

The results of residual phase noise measurements on a number ofnVHF, UHF, and microwave amplifiers, both silicon (Si) bipolar junctionntransistor (BJT) and gallium arsenide (GaAs) field effect transistorn(FET) based, electronic phase shifters, frequency dividers andnmultipliers, etc., which are commonly used in a wide variety ofnfrequency source and synthesizer applications are presented. Thenmeasurement technique has also been used to evaluate feedback oscillatorncomponents, such as the loop and buffer amplifiers, which can playnimportant roles in determining an oscillator's output phase noisenspectrum (often in very subtle ways). While some information hasnpreviously been published related to component residual phase noisenproperties, it generally focused on the flicker noise levels of thendevices under test, for carrier offset frequencies less than 10 kHz. Thenwork reported herein makes use of an extremely low noise, 500 MHznsurface acoustic wave resonator oscillator (SAWRO) test source fornresidual phase noise measurements, both close-to-andnfar-from-the-carrier. Using this SAWRO-based test source at 500 MHz, wenhave been able to achieve a measurement system phase noise floor of -184ndBc/Hz, or better, for carrier offset frequencies greater than 10 kHz,nand a system flicker phase noise floor of -150 dBc/Hz, or better, at 1nHz carrier offset. The paper discusses the results of detailed residualnphase noise measurements performed on a number of components using thisnoverall system configuration. Several interesting observations relatednto the residual phase noise properties of moderate to high power RFnamplifiers, i.e., amplifiers with 1 dB gain compression points in thenrange of +20 to +33 dBm, are highlighted