Citation

Abstract

We present design aspects of a cryogenic sapphire oscillator that is being developed for ultra-high short-term stability and low phase noise in support of the Cassini Ka-band (32-GHz) radio science experiment. With cooling provided by a commercial cryocooler instead of liquid helium, this standard is designed to operate continuously for periods of a year or more. Performance targets are a stability of 3 x 10^-15 (1 second • ¿ • 100 seconds) and a phase noise of -73 dBc/Hz at 1 Hz measured at 34 GHz. Test results are reported for several subsystems, including the cryocooler, vibration isolation system, and ruby compensating element.

Keywords

cryogenic sapphire cryocooler stability frequency standards phase noise

Details

Volume
42-134
Published
August 15, 1998
Pages
1–10
File Size
238.5 KB