A Continuously Tunable 65--15-GHz Gunn Oscillator

A phase-locked second harmonic Gunn oscillator, mechanically tunable from 65 to 115 GHz, has been developed for use as a Iocal oscillator (LO) in millimeter radio astronomy. The oscillator's output power is greater than 2 mW over most of its operating range, and exceeds 10 mW from 80 to 102 GHz. Its frequency can be electronically tuned approximately +-200 MHz by varying the bias voltage on the Gunn diode it is phase locked by exploiting this bias tuning. The oscillator consists of a commercially available, packaged GaAs Gunn diode which is mounted in a coaxial resonator of adjustable length. Descriptions of the mechanical design and phase-lock circuit are given. Extensive experimental measurements of the tuning range and power output for oscillators with different resonator dimensions also are reported.