New 100 MHz OCXOs provide -185 dBc/Hz 'Noise Floor'

By the usage of noise-optimized SC-cut crystals and noise-minimized electronic circuits KVG’s engineers succeeded in designing new OCXOs what provide high frequency stability, exceptional Ultra Low Phase Noise (ULPN) and Low G Sensitivity (LGS) in addition.

For high frequency crystal oscillators locked to a lower frequency reference like a 10 MHz OCXO or a GPS-disciplined oscillator or a Rubidium standard, the phase noise (PN) in the offset frequency range higher than the PLL bandwidth is particularly important, because that far out phase noise is determined not by the reference signal but by the locked RF oscillator, i.e. the 100 MHz OCXO.

The new 100 MHz OCXOs - O-40-ULPN-100M – provide a ‘Noise Floor’ of better than ‑185 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz offset. At 10 kHz offset the phase-noise is already better than ‑180 dBc/Hz and close to the carrier O-40-ULPN-100M gives a very good performance with‑135 dBc/Hz at 100 Hz offset.

Basically all crystal oscillators are sensitive to acceleration resp. to vibration– also known as microphonic effect.
In order to avoid significant performance degradation due to “vibration-induced” phase modulation, small sensitivity against vibration is very important for low noise oscillators. The dynamic G-sensitivity of the new OCXOs is less than 1 ppb/g (1 x 10^-9/g) for all three axes, which means ten-times better than standard OCXOs.

In addition to the excellent phase noise and low G sensitivity the O-40-ULPN-100M is characterized by a very good frequency stability vs. temperature of better than ±50 ppb (±5 x 10^-8) in the temperature-range from -20 ºC to +70 ºC. For the extended temperature range from  -40 ºC to +85 °C the frequency stability is better than ±200 ppb (±2 x 10^-7).

The long term stability (aging) is typically better than ±2.0 ppm within 15 years. The OCXO provides a voltage controlled frequency-tuning capability with a sufficiently large tuning range. For the full life-time it is guaranteed that the carrier-frequency can be adjusted to the nominal-frequency what is crucial for synchronized systems.

These new high-frequency OCXOs are dedicated for application like Test & Measurement Systems (Network Analyzers, Signal Analyzers, etc.) as well as Medical Industry - e.g. Magnetic Resonance Tomography or Computed Tomography - and reference clock for microwave signal sources or radar systems. In general all application in GHz-range where phase noise of the reference source is the determining factor for the performance of the complete system. 

The oscillators will be delivered in a small hermetically sealed metal can package with 25 x 25 x 12.7 mm for thru-hole mounting. Due to the hermetically sealed package the OCXOs are suitable for humid environmental conditions.

New designs in the field of oven controlled oscillators - like enhanced low g sensitivity (LGS) technology - and new RF TCXOs and OCXOs are again setting the standards in the field of crystals and crystal oscillators.