Ultra Low Phase Noise — Phase Coherent Synthesizers

Holzworth has released a product line of ultra low phase noise, multi-channel CW sources that incorporate up to eight independently tunable channels inside a single 1U high housing. One example is the HS3008A, 3 GHz RF synthesizer, which is capable of tuning frequencies from 8 MHz to 3 GHz in 0.001 Hz steps. Like all Holzworth synthesizers, the HS3008A demonstrates industry leading phase noise with excellent channel-to-channel phase stability. The non-PLL-based synthesis architecture is currently available with bandwidths up to 6 GHz while enabling tight stability, phase coherency and extremely fast tuning speeds. Holzworth’s versatile multi-channel synthesizer products can be controlled directly by the proprietary application software, a shared library file (Linix™) or any standard control program/language capable of communicating with a DLL file. These USB instruments also offer an optional SPI interface.

Reprinted with permission of MICROWAVE JOURNAL® from the August 2009 Military Microwaves Supplement, ©2009 Horizon House Publications, Inc.