Sources of intermodulation in diode-ring mixers

Intermodulation is known to arise in diode-ring mixers due to non-linearity in the diode switches, and also due to the interference by signal voltages with the local-oscillator switching function. This interference can be reduced by ensuring fast switching with a square-wave local-oscillator. In this paper the relationship between rise-time and intermodulation is investigated in connection with a practical mixer design for use at v.h.f.