A Q-band monolithic balance resistive HEMT mixer using CPW/slotline balun

Author

Chen, Tzu-hung ; Ton, Thuy-Nhung ; Dow, Gee Samuel ; Nakano, K. ; Liu, Louis C T ; Berenz, J.

Author_Institution

TRW, Redondo Beach, CA, USA

Volume

26

Issue

10

fYear

1991

fDate

10/1/1991 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1389

Lastpage

1394

Abstract

A Q-band balanced, resistive high-electron-mobility-transistor (HEMT) mixer has been developed for integration in monolithic millimeter-wave receivers. The mixer consists of two AlGaAs/GaAs HEMTs, a coplanar-waveguide (CPW)-to-slotline local oscillator (LO) balun, and an active IF balun. CPWs are used to eliminate the backside or via-hole process step, which increases the circuit yield and shortens the processing time. The conversion loss of the mixer while downconverting a 42-46-GHz RF to a 2.3-3.2-GHz IF is between 4 and 8 dB using an LO drive of 14 dBm. A 17.5-dBm input two-tone third-order intermodulation intercept point is achieved with an LO drive of 10.5 dBm, while a 5.5-dBm input, 1-dB compression point can be achieved with an LO drive of 14 dBm. This is the first reported monolithic CPW resistive HEMT mixer operating at Q-band frequencies

Keywords

MMIC; aluminium compounds; field effect integrated circuits; gallium arsenide; high electron mobility transistors; mixers (circuits); 4 to 8 dB; 42 to 46 GHz; AlGaAs-GaAs; CPW/slotline balun; Q-band; active IF balun; circuit yield; conversion loss; monolithic balance resistive HEMT mixer; monolithic millimeter-wave receivers; processing time; two-tone third-order intermodulation intercept point; via-hole process step; Circuits; Coplanar waveguides; Gallium arsenide; HEMTs; High power amplifiers; Impedance matching; Loss measurement; MESFETs; MMICs; Slotline;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9200

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/4.90092

Filename

90092