A Grating Spectrometer for Millimeter Waves

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Abstract
The millimeter wave‐length region appears to be the crossover region beyond which optical measuring techniques are preferable to microwave techniques. For this reason a spectrometer based upon a reflecting echelette type grating was designed for the wave‐length range from 3 to 12.5 millimeters. The operation of the spectrometer is completely automatic, and the curve of received signal intensity vs. grating angle for all orders (including the zero order) is registered by a recording output meter. From the record, the grating angles corresponding to the intensity peaks at the different orders can be read within ±1 minute of arc, giving an accuracy of about ±0.04 percent for measurements of the wave‐lengths of millimeter monochromatic sources. The factors that influenced the design of the components of the spectrometer are presented. The illumination of the grating by the antenna system is incorporated in the derivation of the theoretical equation for the grating intensity curve. It is shown that this theoretical curve agrees closely with the actual spectrometer records.
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