Design of a high-performance wideband acousto-optic heterodyne channelizer

Abstract

This paper reports the design and test of a high performance wideband heterodyne channelizer with low spurs due to reference-reference mixing. The measured signal to noise density ratios agree with the analytical predictions to within 1 dB in the center channels and 3 dB on the outer channels. Asymmetric optical power splitting, unequal aperture times and dual detector cancellation were utilized to achieve low spurs.