Improving the design of resistive distributed signal attenuators by shaping

A new method for improving the design of integrated thin film distributed resistive attenuators is presented. The method, based on shaping, relies on the optimization of the shape of the distributed domain in order to avoid excessive current stream lines crowding. Consequently hot spots are practically absent improving thus considerably the thermal stability of distributed attenuators as well as their overdriving endurance. A design example for proving the validity of this approach is presented in order to emphasize the advantages of the proposed method.