Millimeter-wave fixed-tuned subharmonic mixers with planar Schottky diodes

Two different frequency bandwidth subharmonic mixers（SHM） using planar Schottky mixing diodes are discussed and fabricated.Full-wave analysis is carried out to find the optimum diode embedding impedances with a lumped port for modeling the nonlinear junction.The SHM circuit is divided into several different parts and each part is optimized using the calculated diode impedances.The divided parts are then combined and optimized together.The exported S-parameter files of the global circuit are used for conversion loss（CL） discussion.For the 150 GHz SHM,the lowest measured CL is 10.7 dB at 153 GHz,and typical CL is 12.5 dB in the frequency range of 135-165 GHz.The lowest measured CL of the 180 GHz SHM is 5.8 dB at 240 GHz,and typical CL is 13.5 dB and 11.5 dB in the frequency range of 165-200 GHz and 210-240 GHz,respectively.

A GaAs planar Schottky varactor diode for left-handed nonlinear transmission line applications

The left-handed nonlinear transmission line （LH-NLTL） based on monolithic microwave integrated circuit （MMIC） technology possesses significant advantages such as wide frequency band, high operating frequency, high conversion efficiency, and applications in millimeter and submillimeter wave frequency multiplier. The planar Schottky varactor diode （PSVD） is a major limitation to the performance of the LH-NLTL frequency multiplier as a nonlinear component. The design and the fabrication of the diode for such an application are presented. An accurate large-signal model of the diode is proposed. A 16 GHz-39,6 GHz LH NLTL frequency doubler using our large-signal model is reported for the first time. The measured maximum output powers of the 2nd harmonic are up to 8 dBm at 26.4 GHz, and above 0 dBm from 16 GHz to 39.6 GHz when the input power is 20 dBm. The application of the LH-NLTL frequency doubler furthermore validates the accuracy of the large-signal model of the PSVD.

A 5.4mW and 6.1% efficiency fixed-tuned 214GHz frequency doubler with Schottky barrier diodes

A Y-band frequency doubler is analyzed and designed with GaAs planar Schottky diode, which is flip-chip solded into a 50 μm thick quartz substrate. Diode embedding impedance is found by full- wave analysis with lumped port to model the nonlinear junction for impedance matching without the need of diode equivalent circuit model. All the matching circuit is designed ＂on-chip＂ and the mul- tiplier is self-biasing. To the doubler, a conversion efficiency of 6.1% and output power of 5.4mW are measured at 214GHz with input power of 88mW, and the typical measured efficiency is 4.5% in 200 - 225 GHz.

Planar Schottky varactor diode and corresponding large signal model for millimeterwave applications

A GaAs-based planar Schottky varactor diode （PSVD） is successfully developed to meet the demand of millimeter-wave harmonic generation. Based on the measured S-parameter, I-V and C-V characteristics, an accurate and reliable extraction method of the millimeter-wave large signal equivalent circuit model of the PSVD is proposed and used to extract the model parameters of two PSVDs with Schottky contact areas of 160 μm2 and 49 μm2, respectively. The simulated S-parameter, I-V and C-V performances of the proposed physics-based model are in good agreement with the measured one over the frequency range from 0.1 to 40 GHz for wide operation bias range from -10 to 0.6 V for these two PSVDs. The proposed equivalent large signal circuit model of this PSVD has been proven to be reliable and can potentially be used to design microwave circuits.

A monolithic distributed phase shifter based on right-handed nonlinear transmission lines at 30 GHz

The epitaxial material, device structure, and corresponding equivalent large signal circuit model of GaAs planar Schottky varactor diode are successfully developed to design and fabricate a monolithic phase shifter, which is based on right-handed nonlinear transmission lines and consists of a coplanar waveguide transmission line and periodically distributed GaAs planar Schottky varactor diode. The distributed-Schottky transmission-line-type phase shifter at a bias voltage greater than 1.5 V presents a continuous 0°–360° differential phase shift over a frequency range from 0 to 33 GHz. It is demonstrated that the minimum insertion loss is about 0.5 dB and that the return loss is less than-10 dB over the frequency band of 0–33 GHz at a reverse bias voltage less than 4.5 V. These excellent characteristics, such as broad differential phase shift, low insertion loss, and return loss, indicate that the proposed phase shifter can entirely be integrated into a phased array radar circuit.

W-band high output power Schottky diode doublers with quartz substrate

W-band quartz based high output power fix-tuned doublers are analyzed and designed with planar Schot- tky diodes. Full-wave analysis is carried out to find diode embedding impedances with a lumped port to model the nonlinear junction. Passive networks of the circuit, such as the low pass filter, the E-plane waveguide to strip transitions, input and output matching networks, and passive diode parts are analyzed by using electromagnetic simulators, and the different parts are then combined and optimized together. The exported S-parameters of the doubler circuit are used for multiply efficiency analysis. The highest measured output power is 29.5 mW at 80 GHz and higher than 15 mW in 76-94 GHz. The highest measured efficiency is 11.5% at 92.5 GHz, and the typical value is 6.0% in 70-100 GHz.

Broadband microwave frequency doubler based on left-handed nonlinear transmission lines

A bandwidth microwave second harmonic generator is successfully designed using composite right/left-handed non- linear transmission lines （CRLH NLTLs） in a GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit （MMIC） technology. The structure parameters of CRLH NLTLs, e.g. host transmission line, rectangular spiral inductor, and nonlinear capacitor, have a great impact on the second harmonic performance enhancement in terms of second harmonic frequency, output power, and conversion efficiency. It has been experimentally demonstrated that the second harmonic frequency is deter- mined by the anomalous dispersion of CRLH NLTLs and can be significantly improved by effectively adjusting these structure parameters. A good agreement between the measured and simulated second harmonic performances of Ka-band CRLH NLTLs frequency multipliers is successfully achieved, which further validates the design approach of frequency multipliers on CRLH NLTLs and indicates the potentials of CRLH NLTLs in terms of the generation of microwave and millimeter-wave signal source.

A k-band broadband monolithic distributed frequency multiplier based on nonlinear transmission line

A fabrication technology of GaAs planar Schottky varactor diode （PSVD） is successfully developed and used to design and manufacture CaAs-based monolithic frequency multiplication based on 23-section nonlinear transmission lines （NLTLs） consisting of a coplanar waveguide transmission line and periodically distributed PSVDs. The throughout design and optimization procedure of 23-section monolithic NLTLs for frequency multiplication in the k-band range is based on a large signal equivalent model of PSVD extracted from small-signal S-parameter measurements. This paper reports that the distributed SPVD exhibits a capacitance ratio of 5.4, a normalized capacitance of 0.86 fF/μm2 and a breakdown voltage in excess of 22 V. The integrated 23-section NLTLs fed by 20-dBm input power demonstrates a 26-GHz peak second harmonic output power of 14-dBm with 25.3% conversion efficiency in the second harmonic output frequency range of 6 GHz-26 GHz.