The University of Ottawa is pleased to invite qualified vendors to submit a proposal for a Signal Source Phase Noise Analyzer to support research activities in the University of Ottawa PTLab, relating to photonics technology based microwave to THz frequency sources with state of the art low noise & drift, high spurious sidemode suppression, tuning over a wide range, and compact integration.
General Description of Instrument, System or Service
The random fluctuations within an oscillator (clock) limit the precision of time and frequency measurements, which is of major consequence in applications such as optical & wireless communications, high speed digital electronics, radar & lidar, and astronomy. The University requires a versatile and robust instrument to characterize these internal fluctuations and their impact on the noise performance of the oscillator/clock with the objective of identifying the variety of physical mechanisms responsible and the means of their mitigation. Reliable phase noise spectral density measurement with high sensitivity is consequently necessary. An immediate priority is to demonstrate a 10 GHz source with a phase noise < 150 dBc/Hz @ 10 kHz offset. It is expected that cross-correlation processing will be necessary to lower the instrument noise floor sufficiently to enable an accurate measurement requiring a high degree of stability and measurement repeatability over extended periods of time. The research envisages raising the operating frequency of the sources to millimeter and (sub-) THz frequencies. While, external down-conversion is expected to be necessary ultimately to reach target frequencies, the priority is to evaluate the frequency scaling of the source noise performance within the range of the instrument. Consequently, a high upper operating frequency of the instrument is desirable and at least 26.5 GHz is required.
Specifications listed in Appendix A – Technical Specifications Compliance Form of this RFP are the mandatory minimum requirements for the Signal Source Phase Noise Analyzer.
