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A doubly resonant cavity for detection of RF demodulation by living cells
Author(s) -
Balzano Quirino,
Hodzic Vildana,
Gammon Robert W.,
Davis Christopher C.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
bioelectromagnetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.435
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-186X
pISSN - 0197-8462
DOI - 10.1002/bem.20365
Subject(s) - demodulation , microwave cavity , microwave , diode , schottky diode , radio frequency , nonlinear system , resonant cavity , optoelectronics , physics , optics , materials science , electrical engineering , engineering , laser , channel (broadcasting) , quantum mechanics
Abstract We describe the design, construction, and operating characteristics of a doubly resonant cylindrical microwave cavity. This cavity has been developed to allow a search for nonlinear RF energy conversion in biological cells. Cells with a diode‐like nonlinearity could demodulate a modulated RF carrier wave and generate low frequency signals in an exposed biological preparation. The cavity is designed to be resonant on the TE 111 mode at about 890 MHz and on the TE 113 mode at about 1780 MHz. The cavity performs exactly as designed and has proved capable of detecting the nonlinearity in a microscopic Schottky diode test structure. The sensitivity is sufficient to detect any nonlinearity in a collection of biological cells that could have any potential biological significance. Bioelectromagnetics 29:81–91, 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.