This article presents the methods of broadband axial feeding of a Fabry-Perot resonator. The resonator was originally designed with the radial excitation for the absorption measurement in the frequency band ranging from 18 to 80 GHz. If the frequency stays below $26.4 GHz, the excitation of resonator is less satisfactory, since at the frequency in question, the value of Fresnel number of resonator drops to one. For the broadband measurement of gaseous samples' emission spectra, the excitations for frequencies lower than 26.4 GHz were analyzed using the capacitive coupling and two newly proposed couplings. V C 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53: [2456][2457][2458][2459][2460][2461][2462] 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26344Key words: Fabry-Perot resonator; axial excitation; absorption spectrum; emission spectrum; Fourier-transform microwave spectroscopy
INTRODUCTIONOwing to its vital quality parameters, the Fabry-Perot resonator (hereinafter referred to as FP resonator or resonator) is frequently used in both spectroscopy applications-absorption and emission measurements [1][2][3]. In the high-resolution microwave spectroscopy, a usual absorption experiment is handicapped, for the low pressure of sample gas hinders collision relaxation processes. Furthermore, the probability of relaxation processes caused by spontaneous emission falls with the third power of the frequency [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. This means that the saturation transitions (i.e., equalization of level populations) represent the main restriction to the high-resolution absorption spectroscopy used at the lowest frequencies (from the spectroscopic point of view, this refers to the frequencies of up to 80 GHz).The current research activities are targeted at the suppression of spectral lines broadening, which results from collisions of molecules. Indeed, the Fourier-transform microwave (FTMW) spectroscopy represents one of the most sensitive tools within the high-resolution microwave spectroscopy in the lowest measured frequency bands [1,2].In FTMW spectroscopy, the measured sample gas is excited by short pulses and, subsequently, the emission spectra can be measured [1,3]. Moreover, it is possible to inject the gas into the resonator in the direction of resonator axis by a high pressure [i.e., the supersonic gas expansion preventing collisions of molecule [6]; Fig. 1(b)]. Indeed, owing to the supersonic gas expansion, the spectral lines are narrowed and the sensitivity of spectra measurement is enhanced. Provided that the resonator shows a high quality factor, the field decay in the resonator is extended and the intensity sensitivity accordingly attains higher levels. However, at higher frequencies, a very short emission is observed, whereas at lower frequencies, it lasts for significantly longer time. Consequently, to ensure an emission measurement that is accurate and sensitive enough, it is necessary to determine the optimum loaded quality factor of resonator.This article sub...