High-power digital controlled artificial dielectric GaN reconfigurable transmission lines for digitally assisted RFICs

The first known GaN implementation of high-power digital controlled artificial dielectric (DiCAD) reconfigurable transmission lines is presented. DiCAD was formed by integrating GaN HEMT switches and metal-insulator-metal capacitors (MIMCAPs) into coplanar strip transmission lines. Standard GaN HEMT processing techniques were used, making DiCAD easily compatible with future circuit designs. The DiCAD transmission line´s effective dielectric constant exhibits linear digital control from 15 to 32 with 3-bit resolution up to 50GHz. P_1dB is measured to be greater than 27dBm and OIP₃ is calculated to be greater than 48dBm for all states.