Diode grids for electronic beam steering and frequency multiplication

Loading a grid with diodes offers the possibility of two-dimensional control of millimeter waves that is analogous to holography and nonlinear optics. These grids are attractive because they are suitable for monolithic integration with gallium-arsenide Schottky diodes and for high-power operation. Here we present grid designs for electronic beam-steering and harmonic generation. The beam-steering grid is a programmable reflector, where the diode bias controls the phase shift of the reflection. The variation of the phase across the grating sets the direction of the reflected beam. The reflection loss in computer simulations is 3dB at 90GHz. The harmonic-generating grid acts as a nonlinear reactive surface, where the nonlinear capacitance of the diodes produces the harmonic frequencies. Quasioptical filters select the desired harmonic. Computer simulations predict that a 65GHz-to-130GHz doubler would have an output power of 0.56W/cm² and a conversion efficiency of 35%.     

Millimeter-wave diode-grid frequency doubler

Monolithic diode grid were fabricated on 2-cm² gallium-arsenide wafers in a proof-of-principle test of a quasi-optical varactor millimeter-wave frequency multiplier array concept. An equivalent circuit model based on a transmission-line analysis of plane wave illumination was applied to predict the array performance. The doubler experiments were performed under far-field illumination conditions. A second-harmonic conversion efficiency of 9.5% and output powers of 0.5 W were achieved at 66 GHz when the diode grid was pumped with a pulsed source at 33 GHz. This grid had 760 Schottky-barrier varactor diodes. The average series resistance was 27 Ω, the minimum capacitance was 18 fF at a reverse breakdown voltage of -3 V. The measurements indicate that the diode grid is a feasible device for generating watt-level powers at millimeter frequencies and that substantial improvement is possible by improving the diode breakdown voltage     

A monolithic diode array millimeter-wave beam transmittancecontroller

Amplitude control of transmitted millimeter-wave beams by monolithic Schottky diode arrays is demonstrated. An array containing 4800 diodes has demonstrated control over the range of 20-50% beam transmittance at 99 GHz and 20-70% beam transmittance at 165 GHz. Modulation testing on a second array (8640 diodes) with similar transmission characteristics has shown array control to 50 MHz with negligible loss of output response. An extensive evaluation performed for the 8640-diode array shows good agreement between array impedance parameters determined from quasi-optical measurements, theoretical calculations, and low-frequency C-V measurements. The results have extended the range of quasi-optical functions demonstrated by solid-state power-combining arrays for application to millimeter-wave systems     

8～20GHz GaAs pin二极管单片单刀双掷开关

基于中国科学院微电子研究所的GaAs pin二极管工艺,设计、制作并测试了一种单片单刀双掷开关.在8～20GHz频段内,开关正向导通时的插人损耗最小值为1.5dB,输入和输出端的同波损耗大于10dB;开关关断状态的隔离度最大值为32dB.开关的支路采用串联-并联-并联的结构,其中的GaAs pin二极管基区厚为2.5μm.在1.3V的偏置电压下,正向导通的串联二极管工作电流为     

Diode SPDT Switching at High Power with Octave Microwave Bandwidth

A SPDT diode switch was designed for use at 1-2 GHz, having 1.3 dB maximum insertion loss and 43 dB minimum isolation. It was tested to a burnout peak power of 6 kW at 1 /spl mu/s pulse length and 0.001 duty cycle. The switch configuration uses a transmission-line tee with diodes mounted in shunt with the line for convenient mechanical access and efficient heat removal. This configuration is examined to optimize both the transmission and isolation properties over an octave bandwidth. Special attention is given to the procedures for resonantly tuning the diode capacity and inductance parameters. A design criterion for a circuit that minimizes ohmic losses contributed by the diodes is also presented.     

基于微机械工艺的60 GHz波束扫描天线阵

提出了一种应用于高速率无线通信的基于微机械工艺的波束扫描天线阵.基于微机械工艺的空气填充的同轴线结构能提供低损耗的矩形微同轴传输线和馈电网络设计.设计的传输线仿真和测试插入损耗均小于0.18 dB.仿真和测试结果吻合良好.波束扫描天线阵的尺寸为17.5×14.5×0.42 mm3, -10 dB带宽为10 GHz(55~65 GHz), 其带宽覆盖60 GHz标准的全频段.波束扫描角度分别为±35°和±11°.在60 GHz中心频点, 增益分别为11.8 dBi和12.1 dBi.     

Super-Schottky Mixer Performance at 92 GHz

As part of a program to explore the behavior of superconducting Schottky mixers at high frequencies (nu/sub RF//spl ges/90 GHz), the mixing and video performance of several super-Schottky diodes have been tested at 92 GHz. The diodes used (~3-mu m active diameter, doping concentration ~2x 10/sup 19/ cm/sup -3/) were identical to those recently developed at Aerospace for use in a 31-GHz mixer. The WR-10 mixer mount, designed specifically for this experiment, utilizes a quartz stripline assembly for the diode, whisker, and IF choke, suspended across quarter-height RF wavegnide. At 92 GHz, video responsivities were typically ~80 A/W (corrected for RF mismatch). Conversion loss(corrected for both RF and IF mismatches) was typically measured to he /spl gsim/18 dB. As expected, T/sub diode/ was small (< 5K). Video responsivity and conversion loss were also measured at an RF frequency of 3.95 GHz. These data were used with the measured I- V characteristics of the diodes to compare theoretical predictions of diode performance at 92 GHz in both the video and mixing modes, with the high-frequency data.     

0.2THz宽带非平衡式倍频电路研究

基于四阳极结反向串联型GaAs平面肖特基二极管,设计并实现了0.2 THz宽带非平衡式二次倍频电路。肖特基二极管倒装焊接在75 m石英电路上。在小功率和大功率注入条件下,测试了倍频电路的输出功率和倍频效率。输入功率在10~15 mW时,通过加载正向偏置电压,在210~224 GHz,倍频效率大于3%,在212 GHz处有最高点倍频效率为7.8%。输入功率在48~88 mW时,在自偏压条件下,210~224 GHz带内倍频效率大于3.6%,在214 GHz处测得最大倍频效率为5.7%。固定输出频率为212 GHz,在132 mW功率注入时,自偏压输出功率最大为5.7 mW,加载反向偏置电压为-0.8 V时,输出功率为7.5 mW。     

A Reconfigurable High-Gain Partially Reflecting Surface Antenna

A high-gain partially reflective surface (PRS) antenna with a reconfigurable operating frequency is presented. The operating frequency is electronically tuned by incorporating an array of phase agile reflection cells on a thin substrate above the ground plane of the resonator antenna, where the reflection phase of each cell is controlled by the bias voltage applied to a pair of varactor diodes. The new configuration enables continuous tuning of the antenna from 5.2 GHz to 5.95 GHz using commercially available varactor diodes, thus covering frequencies typically used for WLAN applications. Both the PRS and phase agile cell are analyzed, and theoretical and measured results for gain, tuning range, and radiation patterns of the reconfigurable antenna are described. The effect of the varactor diode series resistance on the performance of the antenna is also reported.      

基于直接调制和外调制的高速半导体激光光源

直接调制和外调制的半导体激光光源在现代光纤通信系统中有着重要的应用。首先介绍了应用于10 Gb/s接入网系统的直接调制AlGaInAs多量子阱DFB激光器。由于AlGaInAs量子阱的导带不连续性较大,因此基于该材料的半导体激光器具有良好的温度特性,其特征温度达到了88 K。同时,该直接调制激光器的3 dB小信号调制响应带宽超过15 GHz。随后介绍面向40 Gb/s干线传输系统的高速DFB激光器/EA调制器集成光源。该集成光源采用同一外延层集成方案,并采用Al2O3高速微波热沉进行了管芯级封装,在3 V反向偏压下获得大于13 dB的静态消光比,3 dB小信号调制带宽超过40 GHz。     

A high-linearity 100-element diode grid mixer

Grid-mixer arrays can achieve high linearity and dynamic range through quasi-optical power combining. We present a 100-element single-ended diode grid mixer operating at 2.45 GHz. Each element incorporates two diodes in series. We measure an input third-order intercept of 11 W (40.5 dBm), and output third-order intercept of 3.4 W (35.4 dBm), and an associated conversion loss of 5.1 dB. The power-handling capability of the array is 100 times larger than that of a microstrip mixer using a single element. The local oscillator (LO) drive requirement for the entire array is 1.4 W (31.6 dBm). The angular dependence of the array's IF power is also presented and is in agreement with theory     

Subharmonically Pumped Millimeter-Wave Mixers

The two-diode subharmonically pumped stripline mixer has a pair of diodes shunt mounted with opposite polarities in a stripline circuit between the signal and local oscillator inputs. The circuit has low noise and conversion loss and substantial AM local oscillator noise cancellation.The local oscillator frequency is about half the signal frequency. A novel diode chip, the notch-front diode, which has ohmic contacts on the chip faces adjacent the face containing the diode junctions, was developed for these circuits. The notch-front diode permits the low parasitic reactance of the waveguide diode mount to be achieved in stripline circuits. The best performance for a two-diode subharmonically pumped mixer with notch-front diodes was a 400 K mixer noise temperature, obtained at 98 GHz which is comparable to the best fundamental mixers in this frequency range. The performance over a 47-110-GHz frequency range for this circuit with commercial beam-lead diodes is also presented.     

Millimeter Wave Diodes for Harmonic Power Generation

A discussion of the application of point contact, electrically formed semiconductor junctions to harmonic generating applications is presented. Three different combinations of materials are considered. First, the more popular phosphor-bronze point on gallium arsenide combination is discussed. Results with this material combination when used as millimeter wave multipliers are given as a reference point. The combination n-GaAs/Cu is then examined. The slope parameter of these diodes shows that the junction is very close to that of a Schottky barrier. The conversion efficiency measured for these diodes shows a 2 to 4 dB improvement over the n-GaAs/P-Br diodes. The third combination, and by far the most efficient, was the n-GaAs/Zn diode. These are true p-n junctions (as opposed to Schottky barriers) and have measured zero bias cutoff frequencies on the order of 1000 GHz. The efficiency realized with these diodes in doubling from 70 GHx to 140 GHz typically ranged from 20 percent to 30 percent. The highest output power at 140 GHz that was measured was 16 milliwatts.     

A 100-element planar Schottky diode grid mixer

The authors present a Schottky diode grid mixer suitable for mixing or detecting quasi-optical signals. The mixer is a planar bow-tie grid structure periodically loaded with diodes. A simple transmission line model is used to predict the reflection coefficient of the grid to a normally incident plane wave. The grid mixer power handling and dynamic range scales as the number of devices in the grid. A 10-GHz 100-element grid mixer has shown an improvement in dynamic range of 16.3 to 19.8 dB over an equivalent single-diode mixer. The conversion loss and noise figure of the grid are equal to those of a conventional mixer. The quasi-optical coupling of the input signals makes the grid mixer suitable for millimeter-wave and submillimeter-wave applications by eliminating waveguide sidewall losses and machining difficulties. The planar property of the grid potentially allows thousands of devices to be integrated monolithically     

Bias-tuned double-drift impatt diodes for wide-bandwidth operation

Double-drift IMPATT diodes with asymmetrical p- and n-type doping concentrations have exhibited output power levels of 3 mW to greater than 100 mW when bias tuned over a 20 GHz bandwidth in a Q band (40?60 GHz) reduced waveguide circuit. Similar output powers were also measured for the same asymmetrical diodes at V band (50?75 GHz) with tunable bandwidths of approximately 18 GHz.     

基于肖特基势垒二极管三维电磁模型的220GHz三倍频器

采用阻性肖特基势垒二极管UMS DBES105a设计了一个太赫兹三倍频器.为了提高功率容量和倍频效率,该倍频器采用反向并联二极管对结构实现平衡式倍频.根据S参数测试曲线建立了该二极管的等效电路模型并提取了模型参数.由于在太赫兹频段二极管的封装影响到电路的场分布,将传统的二极管SPICE参数直接应用于太赫兹频段的电路设计存在一定缺陷,因此还建立了二极管的三维电磁模型.基于该模型研制出的220 GHz三倍频器最大输出功率为1.7 mW,最小倍频损耗为17.5 dB,在223.5 GHz~237 GHz输出频率范围内,倍频损耗小于22 dB.     

Characterization of resonant tunneling diodes for microwave andmillimeter-wave detection

The authors report on the direct detection capabilities of resonant tunneling diodes in the 10-100 GHz range. An open circuit voltage sensitivity of 1750 mV/mW (in Ka-band) was measured. This is higher than the sensitivity of comparatively based commercially available solid-state detectors. The detector properties are a strong function of diode bias and the measured tangential signal sensitivity (-32 dBm at Ka-band with 1-MHz bandwidth) and the dynamic range (25 dB) of the diode are smaller compared to other solid-state detectors     

Monolithic 2-18 GHz low loss, on-chip biased PIN diode switches

Two state-of-the-art monolithic GaAs PIN diode switches have been designed, fabricated and tested. These single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switches exhibit insertion losses of 1.15±0.15 dB over a 2-18 GHz band, which is an unprecedented performance in loss and flatness for monolithic wideband switches incorporating on-chip bias networks. Isolation and return loss are greater than 43 dB and 12 dB, respectively, and the input port power handling is 23 dBm at 1-dB insertion loss compression. These performance characteristics were measured at a nominal bias setting of -8 V, which corresponds to 3.7 mA of series diode bias current and a total dc power consumption of 55 mW. The input power at the third-order interception is 40 dBm. The switches can handle up to 31 dBm (1.25 W) at a higher bias of -18 V and 9.3 mA     

A 60-GHz uniplanar MMIC 4/spl times/ subharmonic mixer

A uniplanar GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit /spl times/4 subharmonic mixer (SHM) has been fabricated for 60-GHz-band applications using an antiparallel diode pair in finite ground coplanar (FGC) waveguide technology. This mixer is designed to operate at an RF of 58.5-60.5 GHz, an IF of 1.5-2.5 GHz, and an LO frequency of 14-14.5 GHz. FGC transmission-line structures used in the mixer implementation were fully characterized using full-wave electromagnetic simulations and on-wafer measurements. Of several mixer configurations tested, the best results show a maximum conversion loss of 13.2 dB over the specified frequency range with a minimum local-oscillator power of 3 dBm. The minimum upper sideband conversion loss is 11.3 dB at an RF of 58.5 GHz and an IF of 2.5 GHz. This represents excellent performance for a 4/spl times/ SHM operating at 60 GHz.     

Zero bias resonant tunnel Schottky contact diode for wide-band direct detection

A Schottky-collector resonant tunnel diode detector has been fabricated and characterized at zero bias up to 400 GHz. General device structure and fabrication are discussed, and small-signal equivalent models are presented for different diode areas. Over the measured range of 200 to 400 GHz using a monolithic antenna structure, noise equivalent power values between 3-8 pW/Hz/sup 1/2/ are achieved. The current-voltage characteristics of the diode show weak temperature dependence over a measured range of 213-323 K.