An LTCC based differential microwave DRO module

Low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology is a multi-layer ceramic process that is well suited to the realisation of low cost, high performance RF and microwave components. This paper describes the design, fabrication and evaluation of a 21.3 GHz differential dielectric resonator oscillator (DRO) module fabricated in LTCC. It has a measured output power of +3 dBm and an amplitude imbalance between the output ports of <0.2 dB. The measured phase noise is -102 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz offset from carrier. The module was the prototype of a commercial product that is now under development. The commercial product will also include a small voltage tuning range to allow phase locking of the DRO for applications such as clock generation in 40 Gb/s optical transceivers. (9 pages)