Rigorous analysis of highly tunable cylindrical transverse magnetic mode re-entrant cavities.

Cylindrical re-entrant cavities are unique three-dimensional structures that resonate with their electric and magnetic fields in separate parts of the cavity. To further understand these devices, we undertake rigorous analysis of the properties of the resonance using "in-house" developed Finite Element Method (FEM) software capable of dealing with small gap structures of extreme aspect ratio. Comparisons between the FEM method and experiments are consistent and we illustrate where predictions using established lumped element models work well and where they are limited. With the aid of the modeling we design a highly tunable cavity that can be tuned from 2 GHz to 22 GHz just by inserting a post into a fixed dimensioned cylindrical cavity. We show this is possible, as the mode structure transforms from a re-entrant mode during the tuning process to a standard cylindrical transverse magnetic mode.

Offset phase locking of noisy diode lasers aided by frequency division.

For heterodyne phase locking, frequency division of the beat note between two oscillators can improve the reliability of the phase lock and the quality of the phase synchronization. Frequency division can also reduce the size, weight, power, and cost of the instrument by excluding the microwave synthesizer from the control loop when the heterodyne offset frequency is large (5 to 10 GHz). We have experimentally tested the use of a frequency divider in an optical phase-lock loop and compared the achieved level of residual phase fluctuations between two diode lasers with that achieved without the use of a frequency divider. The two methods achieve comparable phase stability provided that sufficient loop gain is maintained after frequency division to preserve the required bandwidth. We have also numerically analyzed the noise properties and internal dynamics of phase-locked loops subjected to a high level of phase fluctuations, and our modeling confirms the expected benefits of having an in-loop frequency divider.

Precise phase synchronization of a cryogenic microwave oscillator.

We developed a novel technique for accurate phase synchronization of microwave oscillators based on sapphire dielectric resonators cooled to liquid nitrogen temperature. The achieved quality of phase synchronization (a few milliradians) enables the accurate measurements of extremely weak phase fluctuations expected from the next generation of ultralow phase noise microwave oscillators.

A simple technique for accurate and complete characterisation of a Fabry-Perot cavity.

It has become a significant challenge to accurately characterise the properties of recently developed very high finesse optical resonators (F > 10(6)). A similar challenge is encountered when trying to measure the properties of cavities in which either the probing laser or the cavity length is intrinsically unstable. We demonstrate in this article the means by which the finesse, mode-matching, free spectral range, mirror transmissions and dispersion may be measured easily and accurately even when the laser or cavity has a relatively poor intrinsic frequency stability.

Frequency stabilisation of a fibre-laser comb using a novel microstructured fibre.

There is great interest in developing high performance optical frequency metrology based around mode-locked fibre lasers because of their low cost, small size and long-term turnkey operation when compared to the solid-state alternative. We present a method for stabilising the offset frequency of a fibre-based laser comb using a 2 f - 3 f technique based around a unique fibre that exhibits strong resonant dispersive wave emission. This fibre requires lower power than conventional highly non-linear fibre to generate a suitable signal for offset frequency stabilisation and this in turn avoids the complexity of additional nonlinear steps. We generate an offset frequency signal from the mixing of a wavelength-shifted second harmonic comb with a third harmonic of the comb. Additionally, we have stabilised the repetition rate of the laser to a level better than 10(-14)/ radicaltau , limited by the measurement system noise floor.We present the means for complete and precise measurement of the transfer function of the laser frequency controls.

Invited article: design techniques and noise properties of ultrastable cryogenically cooled sapphire-dielectric resonator oscillators.

We review the techniques used in the design and construction of cryogenic sapphire oscillators at the University of Western Australia over the 18 year history of the project. We describe the project from its beginnings when sapphire oscillators were first developed as low-noise transducers for gravitational wave detection. Specifically, we describe the techniques that were applied to the construction of an interrogation oscillator for the PHARAO Cs atomic clock in CNES, in Toulouse France, and to the 2006 construction of four high performance oscillators for use at NMIJ and NICT, in Japan, as well as a permanent secondary frequency standard for the laboratory at UWA. Fractional-frequency fluctuations below 6 x 10(-16) at integration times between 10 and 200 s have been repeatedly achieved.

[Formation of spherical colonies as a property of stem cells].

The report deals with the ability of embryonic cells harvested from the nervous, hematopoietic and epithelial-muscular human tissues to form spheres during in vitro culturing. Judging from their own data and those reported elsewhere, the authors have hypothesized that formation of spherical colonies in vitro is a common feature of stem cells of various origin and varying degree of maturation. Probably, the formation of spheres provides for development of stem cells according to the locations and their inner temporal programs, which are specific and particular for every type of cells.

[Etiology, clinical manifestations, and epidemiology in community-acquired respiratory infection in children in the Khabarovsk region]. / Etiologicheskaia kharakteristika, klinika i épidemiologiia gruppovogo zabolevaniia respiratornoi infektsiei u detei Khabarovskogo kraia.

Clinico-epidemiological analysis and etiological verification of the outbreak of respiratory infection among school children in a rural district of the Khabarovsk territory, registered in spring 1997, were made. According to clinical signs, one-third of the patients had whooping cough, while the rest of the children exhibited the signs of respiratory infection with the symptoms of longering bronchitis. A half of the children had not been vaccinated against whooping cough, as they had been given injections of adsorbed DT vaccine with reduced antigen content. Etiologically, the diagnosis of whooping cough was confirmed in 57% of the patients with 47.4% of them having Bordetella pertussis monoinfection and 52.6% having mixed infection, mainly in combination with chlamydiosis. Whooping cough took an abnormal course under these circumstances. Treatment with erythromycin produced a good effect.

Novel interferometric frequency discriminators for low noise microwave applications.

New configurations of interferometric frequency discriminators (FD) for frequency stabilization of microwave oscillators are examined. The new FDs are arranged in single directional (SD) (patented), bi-directional (BD) (patent pending), and dual reflection (DR) (patent pending) configurations. In the SD configuration, the signals reflected off and transmitted through the resonator separately pass through different arms of the interferometer. In the BD configuration, microwaves pass in both directions through each arm of the interferometer. In the DR configuration, microwaves are reflected from the resonator as well as the compensating arm. The FD sensitivity is compared with that for the conventional interferometric FD and found to be 6 dB greater in the BD configuration. Because no circulator is required within the interferometer in either the BD or the DR FD, the discriminator's phase noise floor is not limited by the circulator contribution.

Analysis of the rutile-ring method of frequency-temperature compensating a high-Q whispering gallery sapphire resonator.

The rutile-ring method of dielectrically frequency-temperature compensating a high-Q whispering gallery (WG) sapphire resonator is presented. Two and three-dimensional finite element (FE) analysis has been implemented to design and analyze the performance of such resonators, with excellent agreement between theory and experiment. A high-Q factor of 30 million at 13 GHz and compensation temperature of 56 K was obtained. It is shown the frequency-temperature compensation can occur either because the rutile adds a small perturbation to the sapphire resonator or because of a mode interaction with a resonant mode in the rutile. The characteristics of both of these methods are described, and it is shown that for high frequency stability, it is best to compensate perturbatively.

Compact, high-Q, zero temperature coefficient, TE011 sapphire-rutile microwave distributed Bragg reflector resonators.

Some novel new resonator designs based on the distributed Bragg reflector are presented. The resonators implement a TE011 resonance in a cylindrical sapphire dielectric, which is confined by the addition of rutile and sapphire dielectric reflectors at the end faces. Finite element calculations are utilized to optimize the dimensions to obtain the highest Q-factors and zero frequency-temperature coefficient for a resonator operating near 0 degree C. We show that a Q-factor of 70,000 and 65,000 can be achieved with and without the condition of zero frequency-temperature coefficients, respectively.

High-Q whispering gallery traveling wave resonators for oscillator frequency stabilization.

Usually a frequency-stabilized standing wave resonator-oscillator incorporating a resonator as a frequency discriminator requires a circulator to separate the injected and reflected wave, A ferrite circulator is a noisy device and can limit the phase noise or frequency stability. Moreover, we show that the noise in a circulator varies, and detailed low noise measurements are necessary to choose an appropriate quiet circulator. Thus, by realizing a configuration that does not require a circulator, an improvement in performance and reliability can be obtained. A solution to this problem is to design a high-Q whispering gallery traveling wave (WGTW) resonator. This device naturally separates the injected and reflected wave in the same way as a ring cavity at optical frequencies, without degrading the frequency discrimination. Q-factor measurements of a WGTW sapphire resonator are presented, along with a derivation of critical parameters to maximize the frequency discrimination. New measurements of noise in ferrite circulators and isolators have also been made, which is followed with a discussion on oscillator design.

Cryogenic microwave amplifiers for precision measurements.

The noise performance of two cryogenic HEMT amplifiers has been studied. The effective noise temperature for each amplifier is shown to be close to the 6 K thermodynamic temperature before a power threshold of about -70 dBm is achieved.

Frequency-temperature compensation in Ti(3+) and Ti(4+ ) doped sapphire whispering gallery mode resonators.

A new method of compensating the frequency-temperature dependence of high-and monolithic sapphire dielectric resonators near liquid nitrogen temperature is presented. This is achieved by doping monocrystalline sapphire with Ti(3+) ions. This technique offers significant advantages over other methods.

High-Q sapphire-rutile frequency-temperature compensated microwave dielectric resonators.

A sapphiro-rutile composite resonator was constructed from a cylindrical sapphire monocrystal with two thin disks of monocrystal rutile held tightly against the ends. Because rutile exhibits low loss and an opposite temperature coefficient of permittivity to sapphire, it is an ideal material for compensating the frequency-temperature dependence of a sapphire resonator. Most of the electromagnetic modes in the composite structure exhibited turning points (or compensation points) in the frequency-temperature characteristic. The temperatures of compensation for the WG quasi TM modes were measured to be below 90 K with Q-factors of the order of a few million depending on the mode. For WG quasi TE modes, the temperatures of compensation were measured to be between 100 to 160 K with Q-factors of the order of a few hundreds of thousands, depending on the mode. The second derivatives of the compensation points were measured to be of the order 0.1 ppm/K(2 ), which agreed well with the predicted values.

Sensitivity and optimization of a high-Q sapphire dielectric motion-sensing transducer.

A high-Q sapphire dielectric motion sensing transducer that operates at microwave frequencies has been developed. The device uses cylindrical whispering gallery modes of quality factor greater than 10 (5) at room temperature and greater than 10(8) at 4 K. The tuning coefficient of the transducer resonance frequency with respect to displacement was measured to be of the order of a few MHz/microm. An electromagnetic model that predicts the resonant frequency and tuning coefficient has been developed and was verified by experiment. We implemented the model to determine what aspect ratio and what dielectric mode is necessary to maximize the sensitivity. We found that the optimum mode type was a TM whispering gallery mode with azimuthal mode number of about 7 for a resonator of 3 cm in diameter. Also, we determined that the tuning coefficients were maximized by choosing an aspect ratio that has a large diameter with respect to the height. By implementing a microwave pump oscillator of SSB phase noise -125 dBc/Hz at 1 kHz; offset, we have measured a sensitivity of order 10 (-16) m/ radicalHz. We show that this can be improved with existing technology to 10(-18) m/ radicalHz, and that in the near future this may be further improved to 10(-19) m/ radicalHz.

Microwave interferometry: application to precision measurements and noise reduction techniques.

A concept of interferometric measurements has been applied to the development of ultra-sensitive microwave noise measurement systems. These systems are capable of reaching a noise performance limited only by the thermal fluctuations in their lossy components. The noise floor of a real time microwave measurement system has been measured to be equal to -193 dBc/Hz at Fourier frequencies above 1 kHz. This performance is 40 dB better than that of conventional systems and has allowed the first experimental evidence of the intrinsic phase fluctuations in microwave isolators and circulators. Microwave frequency discriminators with interferometric signal processing have proved to be extremely effective for measuring and cancelling the phase noise in oscillators. This technique has allowed the design of X-band microwave oscillators with a phase noise spectral density of order -150 dBc/Hz at 1 kHz Fourier frequency, without the use of cryogenics. Another possible application of the interferometric noise measurements systems include “flicker noise-free” microwave amplifiers and advanced two oscillator noise measurement systems.

A study of noise phenomena in microwave components using an advanced noise measurement system.

A novel 9 GHz measurement system with thermal noise limited sensitivity has been developed for studying the fluctuations in passive microwave components. The noise floor of the measurement system is flat at offset frequencies above 1 kHz and equal to -193 dBc/Hz. The developed system is capable of measuring the noise in the quietest microwave components in real time. We discuss the results of phase and amplitude noise measurements in precision voltage controlled phase shifters and attenuators. The first reliable experimental evidences regarding the intrinsic flicker phase noise in microwave isolators are also presented.