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Integrated frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) interferometer with in situ common-path referencing for plasma diagnostics using a commercial radar system-on-chip.

Created on 22 Sep 2026

Authors

Jinuo Yu, Jinlin Xie, RuoXuan Guo, Jinchen Yang, Yiduo Xu, Ge Zhuang

Published in

The Review of scientific instruments. Volume 97. Issue 9. Sep 01, 2026.

Abstract

Millimeter-wave interferometry is a standard diagnostic for line-integrated electron density, but conventional implementations typically rely on discrete high-frequency sources, mixers, and separately aligned reference paths. Here, we report an integrated frequency-modulated continuous-wave interferometer for plasma diagnostics using a commercial 60-64 GHz radar system-on-chip and, critically, an in situ common-path reference architecture that enables phase-stable operation with industrial hardware. The key design feature is the intentional use of aperture-clipping reflection from the diagnostic-window flange as a stationary reference echo, while the transmitted beam core traverses the plasma and is reflected by a mirror. Because the reference and measurement echoes are generated by the same chirp and share the same transceiver, launch optics, and diagnostic port, differential phase extraction suppresses common-mode oscillator drift, thermal drift, and mechanical vibration without a separate reference arm. A high-duty-cycle chirp configuration and chirp-by-chirp FFT phase retrieval provide a temporal resolution of 120 μs. Experiments on the Keda Linear Magnetized Plasma device show that the common-path-referenced scheme reduces the phase standard deviation from 0.34° to 0.17° and suppresses the dominant 22 Hz vibration component by more than 12 dB, yielding a minimum detectable line-integrated density of 2 × 1014 m-2. These results demonstrate a compact and scalable interferometer architecture for plasma diagnostics based on commercially integrated millimeter-wave hardware.

PMID:
42770852
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 22 Sep 2026.

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