GaAs nonlinear transmission lines for picosecond pulse generation and millimeter-wave sampling

Author

Rodwell, Mark J.W. ; Kamegawa, Masayuki ; Yu, Ruai ; Case, Michael ; Carman, Eric ; Giboney, Kirk S.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., California Univ., Santa Barbara, CA, USA

Volume

39

Issue

7

fYear

1991

fDate

7/1/1991 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1194

Lastpage

1204

Abstract

The GaAs nonlinear transmission line (NLTL) is a monolithic millimeter-wave integrated circuit consisting of a high-impedance transmission line loaded by reverse-biased Schottky contacts. The engineering of functional monolithic NLTLs is considered. Through generation of shock waves on the NLTL, the authors have generated electrical step functions with approximately 5 V magnitude and less than 1.4 ps fall time. Diode sampling bridges strobed by NLTL shock-wave generators have attained bandwidths approaching 300 GHz and have applications in instruments for millimeter-wave waveform and network measurements. The authors discuss the circuit design and diode design requirements for picosecond NLTL shock-wave generators and NLTL-driven sampling circuits.

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; MMIC; gallium arsenide; transmission lines; 1.4 ps; 300 GHz; 5 V; EHF; GaAs nonlinear transmission lines; MIMIC; NLTL-driven sampling circuits; bandwidths; circuit design; diode design requirements; electrical step functions; fall time; generation of shock waves; high-impedance transmission line; millimeter-wave sampling; monolithic NLTLs; monolithic millimeter-wave integrated circuit; picosecond NLTL shock-wave generators; picosecond pulse generation; reverse-biased Schottky contacts; semiconductors; Distributed parameter circuits; Gallium arsenide; Millimeter wave integrated circuits; Millimeter wave measurements; Pulse generation; Sampling methods; Schottky barriers; Schottky diodes; Shock waves; Transmission lines;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9480

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/22.85387

Filename

85387