Millimeterwave interferometer for measuring plasma electron density

C. W. Domier, W. A. Peebles, and N. C. Luhmann Citation: Rev. Sci. Instrum. 59, 1588 (1988); doi: 10.1063/1.1140153 View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1140153 View Table of Contents: http://rsi.aip.org/resource/1/RSINAK/v59/i8 Published by the American Institute of Physics.

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Millimeter..wave interferometer for measuring plasma electron density

c. W,

Domier, W. A. Peebles, and N. C. Luhmann, Jr.

Instituteo/Plasma and Fusion Research. University ofCalifornia. LosAngeles. California 90024

(Presented on 14 March 1988) A simple, low-cost millimeter-wave interferometer has been developed to measure the electron density oflaboratory-type plasmas with densities n<,2 X 10 12 cm -- 3. Two 38.0-GHz Gunn oscillators, whose oscillation frequencies are offset by 40 MHz, are used in a heterodyne configuration. The high intermediate frequency allows the use of inexpensive, free-running mechanically tuned Gunn oscillators and permits this system to be utilized in the study of density fluctuations. A quadrature phase comparator is used to give simultaneously both the sine and cosine components of the plasma interference signal. The phase noise of the system is found to be < 0.1, with a settling time < 100 ns. The system is to be used on a laboratory plasma to look at both the integrated electron density and the level of density fluctuations.

INTRODUCTION
In heterodyne interferometry, the probing beam which passes through the test medium is combined with a reference beam which is shifted in frequency. The phase detector of the conventional Mach-Zehnder interferometer is replaced by a mixer, which outputs the difference frequency between the two beams phase modulated by the test medium. The phase difference between this signal and a reference signal of the same frequency is then detected by a separate phase comparator. In the visible-to-near-infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, lasers have been successfully used, with acousto-optic modulators (Bragg cells), to Doppler shift a portion of the laser beam to create the frequency-shifted second beam. I - 3 In this configuration, the two inputs to the phase comparator are the signal coming from the mixer and the signal that drives the Bragg cel1. Generation of a frequency-shifted beam via acousto-optic modulation in the microwave- and millimeter-wave spectral regions, however, is not feasible due to the much larger wavelengths involved. Instead, a variation of this technique has been used, in which a portion of the beam is Doppler shifted off a cylindrical rotating grating to form the frequency-shifted beam. 4 In contrast to the acousto-optic cell, which can produce frequency shifts t1f;;AO MHz, the frequency shift due to the rotating grating is limited to = 1 MHz. Hence the time response of such systems is severely reduced. Alternatively, the combination of a laser and a rotating grating may be replaced by two oscillators tuned such that there is a sman frequency difference between them. The output from one oscillator is split into two, one passing through the test medium into a signal mixer and the other passing straight to a reference mixer. The second oscillator then provides the local oscillator (LO) power for both mixers. The two mixer outputs become the inputs to the phase comparator. The advantages of using two oscillators over using a single oscillator and a rotating grating are many. The system layout is simplified and much easier to align. The relatively
1588 Rev. Sci.lnstrum. 59 (8}f August 1988

low cost and high reliability of solid-state millimeter-wave sources such as Gunn oscillators (available to ;;.100 GHz) and Gunn driven multiplier sources (available to ;;.150 GHz) make for an inexpensive interferometric system with minimal maintenance costs. The difference or intermediate frequency (IF) may be made high to improve the time response of the system. In addition, a high IF will dramatically reduce the system phase noise. Low phase noise is dependent on having a stable IF. At low IF this usually requires phase locking the oscillators to a highly stable reference oscillator. In the case of a Dopplershifted beam, the probing beam and reference beam are automatically phase locked to each other since both beams arise from the same oscillator. What is not generally weB understood by the plasma physics community is that at high IF two free-running oscillators can produce a low phase noise system without phase locking. The FM noise per unit bandwidth for a free-running oscillator is a function that decreases monotonically with increasing IF. Phase locking the oscillator dramatically reduces this FM noise at IF lower than the locking range (typically 1-10 MHz) of the phase-locking circuitry. AtIF higher than this frequency, the free-running and phase-locked oscillators have virtually identical FM noise characteristics. Thus free-running oscillators with a high IF, combined with the use of appropriate bandpass filters, produce the same low phase noise as a pair of phase-locked oscillators.

I. DESCRIPTION
The experimental setup is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Two free-running 38.0-GHz, lOO-mW mechanically tuned Gunn oscillators (Hughes 47241H-201O) are set 40 MHz apart. Isolators are used to reduce feedback which can affect the frequency of oscillation. One oscillator provides 5-mW ( + 7 dBm) LO power to each of the balanced mixers (Spacek M38-1S), while the other provides a nominal 100-.uW ( - 10 dBm) rf power to the reference and signal mixers.
@ 1988 American InstItute of Physics

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ATIENUATOR

FIG. I. Schematic (If the interferometer setup.

REFERENCE
(40 MHz)

GUNN

12.
ISOLATOR

38.04 GHz

~ -11------+--"1 ;Y?~I
0

10 dB COUPLER

Cross talk between the mixers due to finite rf-LO port isolation is kept to a minimum by supplying equal power levels to both mixers. A variable phase delay unit can adjust the phase of the signal mixer by up to 250" to anow zeroing of the phase output of the phase comparator. The mixer outputs are amplified and passed through 40MHz (4-MHz-wide) bandpass filters. Part of the reference signal is split off to a frequency counter to monitor the IF and part of the phase-modulated signal is split off to an oscilloscope for viewing. The two mixer outputs are amplified to provide 13 dBm to the W input and 0-3 dBm to the A input of the phase comparator (Lorch CP-41 1-40). High-order low-pass filters with a cutoff frequency of5 MHz are used to attenuate any 40- and SO-MHz carrier signals that come from the phase comparator. The theory of operation of the quadrature phase comparator has been covered in some detail in a recent paper. 5 It provides two outputs in phase quadrature: K cos e and K sin e, where K is proportional to the amplitude of the signal A, and eis the phase angle ofthe signal with respect to the reference signal. The two outputs are digitized by a computer, which then calculates the phase of the signal. The advan1589 Rev. SCi.lnstrum., Vol. 59, No.8, August 1988

tages of the quadrature phase comparator are its fast time response and low phase noise, Its primary disadvantage when compared to other types of phase comparators3 is the requirement of two analog-to-digital converter channels per interferometer channel.

II. OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS

The factors that limit the performance ofthe system can be broken into two main areas: (1) the characteristics of the Gunn oscillators and (2) the characteristics of the phase comparator.

A. Performance of the Gunn oscillators

The oscillating frequencies of the two Gunn oscillators were initially set to be 40.0 MHz apart by mechanical tuning of one of the oscillators, but they tended to drift with temperature (roughly 1 MHz/"C). Keeping the path-length differences from oscillator to mixer to within a few centimeters reduced the resultant drift in phase to zO.2/MHz. It is
Collective scattering, interferometry

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REFERENCE

SIGNAL

(40 MHz)

(40 MHz)

QUADRATURE PHASE COMPARATOR

OSCILLOSCOPE

( 1) de offset voltages which occur at the outputs with only the reference input energized, (2) error in phase quadrature, which results in the outputs not being exactly 90 out of phase with each other, and (3) imbalance in the output amplitudes, which makes KI #Kz . All of these acting together can produce peak phase errors of 2. Although all ofthese factors are slowly varying functions of frequency, they are stable and repeatable and can be calibrated out. The addition of the phase-locking circuit described earlier, which keeps the IF fixed to 40.0 MHz, enables the frequency-dependent nature of these nonlinearities to be ignored. The phase comparator can then be calibrated for operation at 40.0 MHz. After calibration, these errors have been reduced to less than OS. The settling time of the system is found to be < 100 ns, and is limited by the bandpass filters on the input and the low-pass filters on the output of the phase comparator. The phase noise of the system is measured to be < 0.1". The phase resolution of the system is limited by the analog-to-digital digitizers used, and is 0.2.

K sin

K cos

FIG. 2. Details of the phase-sensitive detection system.

III. SUMMARY
A simple, low-cost millimeter-wave interferometer has been developed and tested. The phase resolution of the system is 0.2, the phase noise is < 0.1", and the phase linearity is OS. The time response of the system is < 100 ns. The system is to be installed on a filament discharge plasma (n", 10 12 em" J) and used to look at density fluctuations.

imperative, however, that the IF stay within the passband of the 40-MHz bandpass filters. Periodic monitoring of the IF allows for slow variations in temperature to be manually compensated by adjusting the bias voltage of the Gunn oscillators (IF pushing sensitivity of 150 MHz/V). To eliminate the need for such manual frequency compensation, a simple three-transistor phase-locking circuit has been developed to lock the IF to an external oscillator. With a locking range of 4 MHz, temperature changes of 4 C can be tolerated with no change in IF.
B. Performance of the phase comparator

lAo R. Jacobson. Rev. Sci. lnstrum. 49, 318 (1978).

2H. Takahashi, M. Kimura, and R. SanD, Rev. Sci. lnstrum. 57, 1286
(1986). 'E. Newman, C. Buchenauer, and II. Hoida, Rev. Sci. lnstrum. 57, 1992 (1986). 4D. Veron, Opt. Commun. 10,95 (1974). '}. Iwasa, H. Koizumi, and T. Suzuki, Rev. Sci. lnstrum. 59, 356 (1988).

Nonlinearities in the phase response of the quadrature phase comparator are the most serious factors limiting the performance of the system. These nonlinearities are due to

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