MMIC Replacement for Gunn Diode Oscillators

An all-solid-state replacement for high-frequency Gunn diode oscillators (GDOs) has been proposed for use in NASA’s millimeter- and submillimeter-wave sensing instruments. Highly developed microwave oscillators are used to achieve a low-noise and highly stable reference signal in the 10–40-GHz band. Compact amplifiers and high-power frequency multipliers extend the signal to the 100–500-GHz band with minimal added phase noise and output power sufficient for NASA missions.