Phase noise of an HTS resonator operated in the nonlinear regime

Nonlinear properties of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) strongly coupled resonators at different input power have been investigated by measurements of the quality factor as a function of input power as well as by generation of the intermodulation distortion (IMD). The double-sided YBCO films on CeO₂ buffered sapphire demonstrate advanced performance with the microwave surface resistance of ∼0.3 mΩ at 8.5 GHz at 77 K and an IMD third-order interception point estimated at P_circ≈70 W. A parallel feedback oscillator was assembled using a transmission type HTS resonator cooled with liquid nitrogen and a room temperature low noise amplifier. Results on the phase noise investigation of the 2.3 GHz oscillator based on HTS resonator operated in the nonlinear regime demonstrated a deviation from the simple model of the phase noise, which predicts an up-conversion of 1/f noise of the amplifier to oscillator phase noise. The latter can be explained by the phase noise introduced additionally due to the nonlinear response of the HTS resonator.