A high-frequency signal generator based on direct digital synthesizer and field-programmable gate array

A high-frequency signal generator based on direct digital synthesizer (DDS) and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is presented. The FPGA provides the controlling time sequence for the DDS, which has a highest output frequency of 1.4 GHz and a frequency resolution of 190 pHz. At an output frequency of 1.2 GHz, the measured phase noise, including the contribution of the reference clock, is -65 dBc/Hz@1 Hz, while the intrinsic phase noise is -82 dBc/Hz@1 Hz. Time delay of the DDS is measured to be less than 150 ns. The signal generator is used to drive an acousto-optic modulator, and the rise time due to the whole link is 24 ns. The developed signal generator can be used in many precision measurement experiments in the fields of atomic, molecular, and optical physics. Published by AIP Publishing.