Frequency-locked GaAs/AlAs superlattice oscillator for tunable narrowband microwave generation

Author

Hofbeck, K. ; Schomburg, E. ; Grenzer, J. ; Renk, K.F. ; Pavel´ev, D.G. ; Koschurinov, Yu. ; Melzer, B. ; Ivanov, S. ; Kop´ev, P.S.

Author_Institution

Inst. fur Angewandte Phys., Regensburg Univ., Germany

Volume

8

Issue

12

fYear

1998

Firstpage

427

Lastpage

429

Abstract

We observed frequency locking of a wide-miniband GaAs/AlAs superlattice oscillator. The oscillator showed a free self-sustained current oscillation giving rise to microwave generation (power 100 μW) at a natural frequency (near 5 GHz) and ultraharmonics. A narrowband driving field locked the oscillator and caused a drastic narrowing (from 10⁶ Hz to less than 10 Hz) of the halfwidths of the microwave lines, now centered at the driving frequency and its harmonics; at a driving power of 10 μW we obtained a locking range of 1% around the natural frequency. Our experiment, performed with a superlattice integrated in a planar microwave circuit, shows that a locked superlattice oscillator is suitable for tunable narrowband generation of high-frequency radiation.

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; gallium arsenide; harmonics; microstrip circuits; microwave generation; microwave oscillators; semiconductor superlattices; tuning; 10 muW; 100 muW; 5 GHz; GaAs-AlAs; GaAs/AlAs superlattice oscillator; driving frequency; frequency-locked oscillator; harmonics; narrowband driving field lock; planar microwave circuit; self-sustained current oscillation; tunable narrowband generation; tunable narrowband microwave generation; Frequency; Gallium arsenide; Low pass filters; Microwave filters; Microwave generation; Microwave oscillators; Narrowband; Semiconductor superlattices; Tunable circuits and devices; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave and Guided Wave Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1051-8207

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/75.746764

Filename

746764