Tests of Sapphire Crystals Produced with Different Growth Processes for Ultra-stable Microwave Oscillators

We present the characterization of 8-12 GHz whispering gallery mode resonators machined in high-quality sapphire crystals elaborated with different growth techniques. These microwave resonators are intended to constitute the reference frequency of ultra-stable Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillators. We conducted systematic tests near 4 K on these crystals to determine the unloaded Q-factor and the turnover temperature for whispering gallery modes in the 8-12 GHz frequency range. These characterizations show that high quality sapphire crystals elaborated with the Heat Exchange or the Kyropoulos growth technique are both suitable to meet a fractional frequency stability better than 1x10-15 for 1 s to 10.000 s integration times.Comment: 7 figure

Characterization of Zero-Bias Microwave Diode Power Detectors at Cryogenic Temperature

We present the characterization of commercial tunnel diode low-level microwave power detectors at room and cryogenic temperatures. The sensitivity as well as the output voltage noise of the tunnel diodes are measured as functions of the applied microwave power, the signal frequency being 10 GHz. We highlight strong variations of the diode characteristics when the applied microwave power is higher than few microwatt. For a diode operating at ${4}$ K, the differential gain increases from ${1,000}$ V/W to about ${4,500}$ V/W when the power passes from ${-30}$ dBm to ${-20}$ dBm. The diode present a white noise floor equivalent to a NEP of ${0.8}$ pW/ ${\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}}$ and ${8}$ pW/${ \sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}}$ at 4 K and 300 K respectively. Its flicker noise is equivalent to a relative amplitude noise power spectral density ${S_{\alpha}(1~\mathrm{Hz})=-120}$~dB/Hz at ${4}$ K. Flicker noise is 10 dB higher at room temperature.Comment: 8 pages and 16 figure

A Cryogenic Sapphire Resonator Oscillator with 1e-16 mid-term fractional frequency stability

We report in this letter the outstanding frequency stability performances of an autonomous cryogenique sapphire oscillator presenting a flicker frequency noise floor below 2e-16 near 1,000 s of integration time and a long term Allan Deviation (ADEV) limited by a random walk process of 1e-18/sqr(tau). The frequency stability qualification at this level called for the implementation of sophisticated instrumentation associated with ultra-stable frequency references and ad hoq averaging and correlation methods.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Frequency Stability Measurement of Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillators with a Multichannel Tracking DDS and the Two-Sample Covariance

open6sìThis article shows the first measurement of three 100 MHz signals exhibiting fluctuations from 2×10-16 to parts in 10-15 for integration time τ between 1 s and 1 day. Such stable signals are provided by three Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillators (CSOs) operating at about 10 GHz, also delivering the 100 MHz output via a dedicated synthesizer. The measurement is made possible by a 6-channel Tracking DDS (TDDS) and the two-sample covariance tool, used to estimate the Allan variance. The use of two TDDS channels per CSO enables high rejection of the instrument background noise. The covariance outperforms the Three-Cornered Hat (TCH) method in that the background converges to zero "out of the box", with no need of the hypothesis that the instrument channels are equally noisy, nor of more sophisticated techniques to estimate the background noise of each channel. Thanks to correlation and averaging, the instrument background (AVAR) rolls off with a slope 1/√m, the number of measurements, down to 10-18 at τ=104 s. For consistency check, we compare the results to the traditional TCH method beating the 10 GHz outputs down to the MHz region. Given the flexibility of the TDDS, our methods find immediate application to the measurement of the 250 MHz output of the FS combs.openCalosso, Claudio E; Vernotte, Francois; Giordano, Vincent; Fluhr, Christophe; Dubois, Benoit; Rubiola, EnricoCalosso, Claudio E; Vernotte, Francois; Giordano, Vincent; Fluhr, Christophe; Dubois, Benoit; Rubiola, Enric

A Low Power Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillator with better than 10-15 short term frequency stability

International audienceIn the field of Time and Frequency metrology, the most stable frequency source is based on a microwave whispering gallery mode sapphire resonator cooled near 6 K. Provided the resonator environment is sufficiently free of vibration and temperature fluctuation, the Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillator (CSO) presents a short term fractional frequency stability of better than 1 x 10-15. The recent demonstration of a low maintenance CSO based on a pulse-tube cryocooler paves the way for its deployment in real field applications. The main drawback which limits the deployment of the CSO technology is the large electrical consumption (three-phase 8 kW peak / 6 kW stable operation) of the current system. In this paper, we describe an optimized cryostat designed to operate with a low consumption cryocooler requiring only 3 kW single phase of input power to cool down to 4 K a sapphire resonator.We demonstrate that the proposed design is compatible with reaching a state-of-the-art frequency stabilit

In Vivo Methods for the Assessment of Topical Drug Bioavailability

This paper reviews some current methods for the in vivo assessment of local cutaneous bioavailability in humans after topical drug application. After an introduction discussing the importance of local drug bioavailability assessment and the limitations of model-based predictions, the focus turns to the relevance of experimental studies. The available techniques are then reviewed in detail, with particular emphasis on the tape stripping and microdialysis methodologies. Other less developed techniques, including the skin biopsy, suction blister, follicle removal and confocal Raman spectroscopy techniques are also described

Magnetic sensitivity of the microwave sapphire oscillator

International audienceThe Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillator (CSO) is today recognized for its unprecedented frequency stability, mainly coming from the exceptional physical properties of its resonator made in a high-quality sapphire crystal. With these instruments, the fractional frequency measurement resolution, currently of the order of 1e-16, is such that it is possible to detect very small phenomena such as residual resonator environmental sensitivities. Thus, we highlighted an unexpected magnetic sensitivity of the CSO at low magnetic fields. The fractional frequency sensitivity has been preliminarily evaluated to be 1e-13/Gauss, making this phenomenon a potential cause of frequency stability limitations. In this paper, we report the experimental data related to the magnetic sensitivity of the quasi-transverse magnetic Whispering Gallery (WGH) modes excited in sapphire crystals differing from their paramagnetic contaminant concentration. The magnetic behavior of the WGH modes does not follow the expected theory combining the Curie law and the Zeeman effect affecting the electron spin resonance of the paramagnetic ions present in the crystal

Magnetic sensitivity of the Microwave Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillator

International audienceThe Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillator (CSO) is today recognized for its unprecedented frequency stability, mainly coming from the exceptional physical properties of its resonator made in a high-quality sapphire crystal. With these instruments, the fractional frequency measurement resolution, currently of the order of 10 − 16, is such that it is possible to detect very small phenomena such as residual resonator environmental sensitivities. Thus, we highlighted an unexpected magnetic sensitivity of the CSO at low magnetic fields. The fractional frequency sensitivity has been preliminarily evaluated to be 10 − 13 /G, making this phenomenon a potential cause of frequency stability limitations. In this paper, we report the experimental data related to the magnetic sensitivity of the quasi-transverse magnetic Whispering Gallery (WGH) modes excited in sapphire crystals differing from their paramagnetic contaminant concentration. The magnetic behavior of the WGH modes does not follow the expected theory combining the Curie law and the Zeeman effect affecting the electron spin resonance of the paramagnetic ions present in the crystal

Phase noise mitigation of the microwave-tophotonic conversion process using feedback on the laser current

International audienceThe generation and transfer of ultra-stable microwave signals are of paramount importance in numerous applications spanning from radar systems to communications and metrology. We demonstrate residual phase noise mitigation at 10GHzof a directly modulated laser system through active control of the laser bias current. The latter is tuned to a finely selected point, where the current-to-phase dependence, measured at several microwave power and frequency values, is maximized. A residual phase noise of -113 dBrad2=Hz at 1 Hz offset frequency from a 10 GHz carrier, with a fractional frequency stability of 1.210 -16 at 1 s and below 10 -19 at 10 5 s, is measured. These performances are compliant with the transfer of the most stable microwave signals available to date, obtained with cryogenic sapphire oscillators or combs locked tocavity-stabilized lasers. This approach is of interest for the distribution of ultra-stable microwave signals in a very simple photonic configuration