One-Bit Time-domain Sensing in Microwave Resonators.

Microwave resonators are used to measure the dielectric constant of material when feeding the microwave cavity with RF signals. Usually, the readout system is based on complex frequency-domain instrumentation or RF receivers. This paper shows how to realize a low-complexity system for measuring in the time-domain the RF signals needed to estimate the impedance of a microwave resonator. It is based on the conversion of the resonator output signal using a high-speed analog comparator. It uses the comparator binary output to estimate the full-resolution signal carrying information about the resonator frequency response function. Experimental results based on a third-harmonic resonator validate the made assumptions.