Chinese Optics, Volume. 18, Issue 3, 661(2025)

Ultralow residual phase noise frequency synthesizer for space gravitational wave detection

Lei-gang WANG1,2, En-xue YUN1,2、*, Xin LUO1,2, Teng-hui YANG1,2, Bi-song WANG1,2, Si-yu SUN1,2, Cheng-yun LI1,2, Jun-liang LIU1,2, Rui-hong GAO2,3,4, Feng ZHAO2,5, and Shou-gang ZHANG1,2
Author Affiliations
  • 1NTSC, Chinese Academy of Science, Xi’an 710600, China
  • 2University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • 3Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
  • 4Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, UCAS, Hangzhou 310024, China
  • 5Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Wuhan 430071, China
  • show less

    A space laser interferometric gravitational wave observatory requires spaceborne clocks with ultralow phase noise in the millihertz frequency band. Such noise can be suppressed using a sideband multiplication transfer scheme and pilot tone techniques. To meet the requirements of the clock noise suppression technique, ultralow residual phase noise synthesizers are required to generate the microwave (2.4 GHz) for electro-optic modulator modulation and the pilot tone signal (75 MHz). To this end, two different structures of microwave chains have been designed, implemented and compared. The application of low phase noise phase-locked dielectric resonator oscillators (PDROs) and frequency division techniques enabled the development of a frequency synthesis chain with ultralow residual phase noise. The residual phase noise of the 75 MHz pilot signal is measured to be $ 1.06\times {10}^{-3}\;\mathrm{r}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{d}/\sqrt{\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}} $, $ 8.18\times {10}^{-5}\;\mathrm{r}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{d}/\sqrt{\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}} $, $ 7.63\times {10}^{-6}\;\mathrm{r}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{d}/\sqrt{\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}} $, $ 1.30\times {10}^{-6}\;\mathrm{r}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{d}/\sqrt{\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}} $ and $ 1.53\times {10}^{-7}\;\mathrm{r}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{d}/\sqrt{\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}} $ at Fourier frequencies of 0.1 mHz, 1 mHz, 10 mHz, 100 mHz, and 1 Hz, respectively. The pilot signal is generated by frequency division of a 2.4 GHz microwave signal, thus it's residual phase noise is lower. As a result, the residual phase noise levels of both signals meet the requirements of the "Taiji Program" in the range of 20 mHz to 1 Hz. By further reducing the residual phase noise of power dividers, frequency dividers and other devices, reducing the temperature sensitivity of key devices, and adding temperature control and pilot tone correction technologies, the noise floor of the frequency synthesizer can be further reduced to meet the requirements of the Taiji Project in the entire frequency range (0.1 mHz-1 Hz). The development of this frequency synthesizer lays a solid foundation for the time-frequency system required for China's space gravitational wave detection.

    Keywords
    Tools

    Get Citation

    Copy Citation Text

    Lei-gang WANG, En-xue YUN, Xin LUO, Teng-hui YANG, Bi-song WANG, Si-yu SUN, Cheng-yun LI, Jun-liang LIU, Rui-hong GAO, Feng ZHAO, Shou-gang ZHANG. Ultralow residual phase noise frequency synthesizer for space gravitational wave detection[J]. Chinese Optics, 2025, 18(3): 661

    Download Citation

    EndNote(RIS)BibTexPlain Text
    Save article for my favorites
    Paper Information

    Category: Special Column on Space-based Gravitational Wave Detection

    Received: Jan. 21, 2025

    Accepted: --

    Published Online: Jun. 16, 2025

    The Author Email:

    DOI:10.37188/CO.2025-0015

    Topics