Optically Tuned Millimetre-Wave C.W. IMPATT Source.
Abstract
The main objective of the contract was to carry out a one year feasibility study on the use of an optical signal to control the operating frequency of a millimetre-wave IMPATT oscillator. The study involved a theoretical analysis of optical tuning in IMPATT diodes, computer modelling of optical tuning behaviour, including transient behaviour, and experimental measurements on a W-Band optically controlled oscillator. An analytic theory of optical tuning in IMPATT oscillators has been developed, leading to a simple equation relating the change in oscillator frequency to the optically injected current. Major predictions of the optically injected current that the proportionality constant varies as the reciprocal of the oscillator Q factor and that avalanche multiplication increases the optical tuning effect significantly at the higher oscillator voltage swings. It is predicted that a 5mW semiconductor laser would produce a tuning range of the order of 1% in a W-Band IMPATT oscillator having a Q of 200.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1986
- Accession Number
- ADA175838
Entities
People
- A. J. Seeds
- J. F. Singleton
- S. Brunt