Surface acoustic wave stabilized oscillators

Abstract

Four areas of surface acoustic wave (SAW) controlled oscillators were investigated and a number of 401.2 MHz oscillators were constructed that showed improved performance. Aging studies on SAW devices packaged in HC36/U cold weld enclosures produced frequency drifts as low as 0.4 ppm in 35 weeks and drift rates well under 0.5 ppm/year. Temperature compensation circuits have substantially improved oscillator temperature stability, with a deviation of + or - 4 ppm observed over the range -45 C to + 40 C. High efficiency amplifiers were constructed for SAW oscillators and a dc to RF efficiency of 44 percent was obtained for an RF output of 25 mW. Shock and vibration tests were made on four oscillators and all survived 500 G shock pulses unchanged. Only when white noise vibration (20 Hz to 2000 Hz) levels of 20 G's rms were applied did some of the devices fail.