High performance millimeter-wave local oscillator module for EW applications

A miniature high-stability local oscillator module has been developed for EW (electronic warfare) applications. The module consists of a dielectrically stabilized FET oscillator, a buffer amplifier, and a planar varactor multiplier, which are integrated to form a miniature planar circuit. A DRO- (dielectric-resonator-oscillator-) stabilized oscillator and high-efficiency doubler are combined to achieve a 40-GHz local oscillator (LO) which is small, low cost, and offers excellent performance for use in military EW systems. The module exhibits excellent phase noise, high efficiency, high frequency stability, and good power stability (over temperature). The module has been tested over extremes of temperature and vibration environments encountered for military environments without degradation of the LO performance. This technique has been applied to local oscillator frequencies as high as W-band.<>