where

about X is then
(5)

are the dispersion coefficients of a particular mode in the guide. Here

Note the quadratic, rather than linear, dependence on spectral width. This represents the fundamental minimum to chromatic dispersion and has the value 2-50xl0- 2 pskm- 1 nm- 2 for fused silica at 1273 nm. The carrier frequency limited pulsewidth is about 2 x 10 ps. For the example guide of the previous Section, Fig. 3 shows both X and f as a function of V. For a constant A, note that for decreasing V the optimum wavelength increases above the bulk value Xo, while the attendant chromatic pulse spreading decreases below the bulk value To. Conclusion: It has been shown that in the 'zero-materialdispersion' region around 1-3 //m, residual higher-order chromatic effects remain to limit the ultimate information capacity. Further, monomode dispersion causes a shift to longer wavelengths so that new guide designs may be called for. Even for multimode guides, this wavelength region will be attractive. A source with a spectral spread of say 30 nm results in a minimum spread of about 20ps/km, a figure comparable to what may soon be attainable with carefully profiled graded-index multimode fibres.
F.

is the usual (lst-order) material dispersion, often given in pskm" 1 nm The terms 1 rfom_i (3) = JT~ w = 2, 3, ... m dX material dispersion coefficients that are higher /wth-order have not been considered previously. Fig. 2 plots the first three orders for fused silica; because of the smallness of the ratio AX/X, the 3rd-order contribution to eqn. 2 will always be negligible. However, near the wavelength Xo at which the usual lst-order dispersion vanishes, the 2nd-order effect will dominate. About its minimum, the group-index curve of Fig. 1 can be closely approximated by a parabola. The mode coefficients in eqn. 2 are
dV (4)

Dispersion minimum: The total lst-order chromatic dispersion Dx vanishes where material and mode effects cancel1 at a wavelength shifted from the material value Ao. The residual 2nd-order pulse spreading for a source of width AA centred
200

p. KAPRON

10th January 1977

Bell-Northern Research Ottawa, Canada Kl Y 4H7 References

1 KAPRON, F. p., and KECK, D. B.: 'Pulse spreading through a dielectric optical waveguide', Appl. Opt., 1971, 10, pp. 1519-1523
2 PAYNE, D. N . , and GAMBLING, W. A.: 'Zero material dispersion in

'

'

|00

!ns/k km)

optical fibres', Electron. Lett., 1975, 11, pp. 176-178 3 OSANAI, H., et al.\ 'On the ultimate low loss "window" in doped silica glass optical fiber'. Paper PDL 1 at the 2nd European conference on optical fiber communication, Paris, Sept. 1976 4 MAUTSON, i. H.: 'Interspecimen comparison of the refractive index of fused silica', / . Opt. Soc. Am., 1965, 55, pp. 1205-1209 5 GLOGE,D.:'Weakly guiding fibers',/!/>/>/. Opt., 1971,10, pp. 2252-2258 6 OKAMOTO, K., and OKOSHr, T.: 'Analysis of wave propagation in optical fibers having core with a-power refractive-index distribution and uniform cladding'. IEEE Trans., 1976, MTT-24, pp. 416-421
7 RUDOLPH, H.-D., and NEUMANN, E.-G.: 'Approximations

-100

eigenvalues of the fundamental mode of a step index glass fiber waveguide', Nachrichtentech. Z., 1976, 29, pp. 328-329

for

the

" 1.8

Fig. 2 First three material dispersion coefficients (defined in eqn. 3) against wavelength A for fused silica

HIGH-G-FACTOR S.A.W. RESONATORS AT 780 MHz

Indexing terms: Acoustic-surface-wave devices, Crystal resonators, Quartz The design and fabrication of upper-v.h.f.-frequency s.a.w. resonators are described. Experimental results are presented for s.a.w. resonators on ST quartz having a g-factor of nearly 5000 at 780 MHz.

1.45-

The realisation of high-g-factor s.a.w. resonators 1 " 3 at upper u.h.f. band has proved to be difficult because of the precise fabrication requirements and acoustic losses that prevail at these high frequencies. In this letter, we report on our methods for attaining Q-factors of 4000 to 5000 on ST quartz at nearly 800 MHz, a frequency twice that of any previously reported high-Q-factor resonator.3 - 0.015 The 2-port resonator shown in Fig. 1 was fabricated using 10:1 direct optical projection.4'5 To obtain the greatest flexibility in adjusting the critical dimensions, namely, the transducer-transducer and transducer-grating separations, the transducer and grating were on two separate masters. The resonator was then fabricated by independently exposing the transducers and gratings, in a laser controlled step-andrepeat process. After exposure, the entire device was metallised in a single step. By simple modifications to the process, 1-port Fig. 3 Optimum operating wavelength A and the corresponding and bandstop 2-port resonators can also be fabricated by minimum chromatic pulse broadening T against V-value of guide using the same two masters. Although this process proved convenient as a research tool, it is expected that one mask, of Fig. 1 the entire resonator, would be preferred for containing Also shown are the bulk silica values ) . o and To, respectively
ELECTRONICS LETTERS 17th February 1977 Vol. 13 No. 4
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97

quantity production. For the case shown in Fig. 1, the 34-pair single-electrode transducers were positioned at integral numbers of half acoustic wavelengths minus a quarter (w/(;72)-i) from the edge of the shorted gratings.6 The linewidths were 1 /an and an aluminium film, 800 A thick, was deposited over an 80 A-thick chrome flash on ST quartz.

Fig. 1 Resonator geometry Linewidths are 1 urn

Table 1 DATA FOR S.A.W. RESONATORS HAVING THE GEOMETRY IN FIG. 1.

Untuned

Tuned Q 3630 3760 3923 i.l.

dB

Resonator
1 2 3

/o (GHz)

Q 4661 4268 4398

i.l.
dB

0-780680 0-780419 0-780598

31 31 32

19 19 22

In this case, asymmetric transducer placement was investigated, and it did not degrade resonator performance. As shown in Table 1, for three sets of resonators having the same geometry, their centre frequencies and Q-factor differed only by 2-3 x 10" 4 and 6%, respectively (with reference to resonator 3). In Fig. 2 are typical resonator responses for the configuration shown in Fig. 1. The centre frequency / 0 is 780-5 MHz, the Q-factor 4400 and the insertion loss is 33 dB. By crude stub tuner matching, the insertion loss was reduced to 22 dB and the Q-factor was degraded to about 3900. The highest Q-factor listed in the Table was 4661. The lowest insertion loss obtained was 18 dB. These responses are in good agreement with a general theory7 which includes 2nd-order effects. A simpler estimate of Q can be obtained by assuming a reflectivity parameter for each grating line and accounting for propagation loss and diffraction loss.8' 9 Because stripe reflection coefficient data are scarce at these high frequencies, we found that a value of r = 0006 gave reasonable agreement with experiment. For this case, the unloaded Q-factor in air was calculated to be 5090, and, in vacuum, it was 5540. Fig. 3 shows that the increase in Q obtained by evacuating the resonator is in good agreement with that calculated by the simple theory. A variety of filter characteristics can be realised by merely electrically cascading two or more 2-port resonators. In Fig. 4, responses of unmatched cascaded resonators are compared on a linear scale with that of a single resonator. The combination of resonators 1 and 3 results in a synchronously tuned design whose response exhibits the usual increase in selectivity and decrease in bandwidth. Cascading resonators 2 and 3 provides a stagger-tuned design possessing a flat topped response with broadened passband. In conclusion, we have shown that it is possible to design and fabricate repeatably high-Q-factor resonators for upper u.h.f. frequencies by the use of 10:1 direct optical projection and conventional 1-step photolithographic techniques. Acknowledgments: The authors are indebted to G. A. Roberts for packaging the experimental devices. We also wish to express our appreciation to J. Sethares, T. Tsai and P. H. Carr for their helpful comments during the course of this work.
-QUARTZ TWO-PORT RESONATOR

-30-

UNMATCHED Q = 4398

IL(dB) (lOdB/DIV.)

780.5 FREQUENCY (MHz) (10 MHz/DIV.)

Fig. 3 Frequency responses (linear scale) of resonator 3 in air and in vacuum ST-QUARTZ SAW RESONATOR FILTERS
8 / MATCHED Q=3923 CASCADE 6 'R I S * 5 i 4 3 2

-20-

'

CASCADE RES#I83 RES # 3

n 7
7

1> Y \\
\

".
|S75M

780.5 FREQUENCY (MHz) (lOMHz/DIV.)

780.6 MHz (lOOKHz/DIV)

Fig. 2 Insertion-loss characteristics against frequency resonator 3 for unmatched and stub-tuned conditions 98

for

Fig. 4 Frequency responses (linear scale) of cascaded resonator configurations ELECTRONICS LETTERS 77th February 1977 Vol.13 No. 4

Authorized licensed use limited to: WARWICK UNIVERSITY. Downloaded on November 4, 2009 at 05:54 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.

K. R. LAKER T. L. SZABO W. J. KEARNS

10th January 1977

Deputy for Electronic Technology (RADC/AFSC) Hanscom AFB, Mass. 01731, USA References
1 BELL, JUN., D. T., and LI, R. c. M.: 'Surface-acoustic-wave resonators', Proc. IEEE, 1976, 64, pp. 711-721
2 LAKER, K. R., and SZABO, T. L.: 'The potential for low cost, high-Q

the voltage drop RIZ completely and using Iz directly. A t.t.l.-compatible threshold gate which employs this idea has been described.6 The circuit which is described now is well suited for high-speed applications: the resistor R of Fig. 1

out

filters using high frequency SAW resonators'. Proceedings of 19th Midwest symposium on circuits and systems, 1976, pp. 642-648 3 SHREVE, w. R.: 'Surface wave resonators and their use in narrowband filters'. Ultrasonics symposium proceedings, 1976 (IEEE catalogue 76-CH-l 120-5 SU), pp. 706-713

4 KEARNS, w. j . , and SLOBODNIK, JUN., A. J.: 'Fabrication of micrometer

line width SAW filters using direct optical projection'. AFCRL Report AFCRL-TR-75-0055, Jan. 1975, Hanscom AFB, Mass. 01731 5 BUDREAU, A.: 'State-of-the-art in microfabrication of SAW devices'. Ultrasonics symposium proceedings, 1975 (IEEE catalogue 75 CHO 994-4SO), pp. 458^162.

Fig. 1

Threshold gate with current switches and clamp diodes

6 HAYDL, w. H., DISCHLER, B., and HIESINGER, p.: 'Multimode SAW

Either block a or block b is connected to S: circuit a is with resistor /?,circuit b is with constant-current source QT

resonatorsa method to study the optimum resonator design'. Ultrasonic symposium proceedings, 1976 (IEEE catalogue 76-CH1120-5SU), pp. 287-296 7 SANDY, F.: Final Report under contract F19628-76-C-0034, 1977 (to be published) the performance and limitations on the surface-wave resonator using grooved reflectors'. Ultrasonics symposium proceedings, 1974 (IEEE catalogue 74 CHO-896-ISU), pp. 257-262

8 LI, R. C. M., WILLIAMSON, R. C , FLANDERS, D. C , a n d ALUSON, J. A.: ' O n

9 SZABO, T. L., and SLOBODNIK, JUN., A. J.: 'The effect of diffraction on

the design of acoustic surface wave devices', IEEE Trans., 1973, SU-20, pp. 240-251

HIGH-SPEED CURRENT-MODE THRESHOLD GATE WITH CLAMPS AND CURRENT COMPARISON

Indexing terms: Logic gates, Threshold logic A circuit for a high-speed threshold gate with low power dissipation is given. Compared with known circuits, it has many advantages, e.g. minimal power-supply voltage is not dependent on logic parameters of the threshold gate such as the number of inputs and their weights. Propagation delay time remains low compared with these circuits, as is shown by simulation using a simple model and by measurements on a physical gate.

is replaced by a constant-current source OT with current IT = Io Umax (T )), the current switch D is replaced by two diodes Dt and D2 with associated constant voltage sources (circuit b, i.e. block b with current source is connected to S instead of block a). The current Idiff = Z^ / r is supplied by diode Dx (J < T) or D2 (j ^ T). The voltage on node S is then Fc,_ or VCI+ (with ideal diodes). DL and D2 are also give lower propagation delay time when resistor R is used (a). In this case, the voltages VCI+ and VCi- must be different from voltages for b : when ; = T 1 oc j = T, the current through Dx or D2, respectively, must be small because it reduces the voltage swing on S. Clamping is not as effective as it is for b : when j = T 1 or j = T, the current through >! or D2, respectively, is \I0 for b and the differential resistance of the conducting diode is smaller for j > T and j < T\. The advantages of the circuit with current comparison are (a) The voltage swing on node S is clamped more effectively and is more independent of / 0 . (b) The power-supply voltage is independent of jmax and T. (c) Power dissipation is small because of the small voltage drop across the constant-current source QT. (d) The resistor R, with tolerance and temperature problems, is replaced by a constant-current source. (e) T is varied by varying IT, e.g. with constant-current sources and associated current switches. An example shows how power dissipation can be reduced; clamping is included and diodes assumed to be ideal (Table 1). Evaluation of dynamic properties by simulation: The dynamic properties of the circuit with current comparison {b) are expected to be different from those of circuit a with resistor and discriminator. A simple model shown in Fig. 2 provides information on general properties. A capacitor C is connected to node S to simulate the capacitive load caused by the relatively large number of connected current switch outputs. The diodes used have an exponential characteristic similar to available Schottky diodes. A ramp generator provides 7r ; the parameters of the ramp are determined by transistor

Introduction: A threshold gate computes the product sum

where xt are binary input signals and at are weights of the inputs, and decides whether j > T (output signal is 1) or j < T (output signal is 0), where T is the threshold. Applications are found in majority-voting,1 m-out-of- decoders,2 adders3 and pattern and speech recognition e.a.1 Known circuits use c.m.o.s. gates,1 p.l.a.s4 or conventional logic gates.5 Circuits with good noise margin and extreme high speed (Fig. 1) consist of current switches (c.s./), constant current sources (at Io), a busbar S to sum up current

h=

atloxt = Io I S Oi-j

and an output discriminator which is usually a resistor R producing a voltage drop RIZ and a current switch D (circuit a, i.e. block a with resistor R is connected to S). 3>6 - 8>9 Minimal power-supply voltage is Vcc-VEE > Rio dt+Vcs = RIojmax+Vcs
i= i

where Vcs is the minimal voltage to avoid saturation of current switches and current sources. Power-supply voltage and power dissipation are strongly dependent onjmax and T, and increase with the number of inputs and weights. Threshold gate with clamps and current comparison: The drawback mentioned above can be eliminated by avoiding
ELECTRONICS LETTERS 17th February 1977 Vol.13 No. 4 Fig. 2 Simple model to evaluate transient responses

99

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