The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 01, 2006
Filed:
Apr. 10, 2001
Agoston Agoston, Beaverton, OR (US);
John Ebner, Portland, OR (US);
Steven Pepper, Portland, OR (US);
Robert Norton, Beaverton, OR (US);
Agoston Agoston, Beaverton, OR (US);
John Ebner, Portland, OR (US);
Steven Pepper, Portland, OR (US);
Robert Norton, Beaverton, OR (US);
Picosecond Pulse Labs, Boulder, CO (US);
Abstract
An ultrafast sampler includes a series of Schottky diodes configured with a coplanar waveguide to form a nonlinear transmission line (NLTL) that compresses a local oscillator input to form a series of strobe pulses. Strobe pulses of opposite polarity are capacitively coupled to sampling diodes to obtain samples of a signal applied to a signal input. The samples are directed along an intermediate frequency waveguide to, for example, a signal processor such as an oscilloscope, for storage and analysis. The intermediate frequency waveguide is configured so that conductors of the intermediate frequency waveguide receive signal samples of a common polarity and strobe samples of opposite polarities so that portions of strobe pulses delivered to a signal processor are distinguished from signal samples. In an embodiment, the intermediate frequency waveguide and the strobe waveguide are symmetrically situated along a common axis, and conductors of the strobe waveguide are positioned between the axis and the conductors of the intermediate frequency waveguide. The sampling circuit is defined on a GaAs substrate and a coaxial-to-airline-to-substrate transition is configured to deliver signals from a coaxial cable to the sampling circuit. A signal output is configured to direct the signal back into a coaxial cable.