PLDRO2 in event horizon imaging research

Before an electronic device becomes a part of a satellite and goes to space, it has to go through a long process of design, development, and testing. During the project for the European Space Agency, a number of prototypes are created at various levels of product development. The Engineering Qualified Models (EQM) do not leave cleanrooms and are usually used to present the operating system solution to customers.

However, engineering models at a lower level of technological maturity are fully operational devices and can also be used for research purposes. The two ultra-low phase noise frequency generators (PLDRO2), developed by SpaceForest as part of the ESA’s ‘Development and qualification of frequency generators’ project that ended in 2018, have become components of the breadboard of an interferometer for high-resolution shadow imaging of supermassive black holes.

The results of the research that used our generators have been described in two publications:

“Laboratory Demonstration of the Local Oscillator Concept for the Event Horizon Imager” in Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation Vol. 10, No. 03

and

“On Lab Test of Coherence in Event Horizon Imager” in 2021 Joint Conference of the European Frequency and Time Forum and IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium (EFTF/IFCS)