Miniature 38 GHz couplers and baluns using multilayer GaAs MMIC technology

Author

Ng, C.Y. ; Chongcheawchamnan, M. ; Robertson, I.D.

Author_Institution

Sch. of Electron. & Phys. Sci., Univ. of Surrey, Guildford, UK

Volume

3

fYear

2003

fDate

7-9 Oct. 2003

Firstpage

1435

Abstract

In this paper, miniature hybrid couplers and baluns using 3D-MMIC technology are presented. These circuits include a branch-line coupler, a rat-race coupler and an "all-ports matched" planar Marchand balun, all designed at the center frequency of 38 GHz. They are fabricated using a multilayer MMIC process employing five metal layers and four layers of BCB dielectric film on a GaAs substrate. With this, size reduction as much as 6 times over their standard counterparts has been achieved and they are thus suitable for the implementations of compact circuits such as balanced mixers and amplifiers.

Keywords

MMIC amplifiers; MMIC mixers; baluns; dielectric materials; dielectric thin films; integrated circuit design; integrated circuit modelling; millimetre wave couplers; organic compounds; 38 GHz; BCB dielectric film; GaAs; GaAs substrate; MMIC amplifiers; MMIC mixers; compact circuits; metal layers; miniature hybrid couplers; multilayer GaAs MMIC technology; planar Marchand balun; Circuits; Couplers; Couplings; Dielectric substrates; Gallium arsenide; Impedance matching; MMICs; Microstrip; Nonhomogeneous media; Power transmission lines;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwave Conference, 2003. 33rd European

Print_ISBN

1-58053-834-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/EUMC.2003.1262929

Filename

1262929