New Solid State Devices and Circuits for Millimeter Wave Applications

In this paper we will address some new devices and circuits conceptually different to well known microwave devices and circuits. Hence we will briefly discuss devices such as the quantum well diode for oscillators, multipliers and mixers, the back to back Barrier n-n+ (bbBNN) varactor diode for multipliers, the single barrier varactor (SBV) diode for multipliers, and new achievements concerning the design and fabrication of Schottky diodes. Concerning circuits, we focus on new approaches for the basic problem of handling large powers at millimeter waves (and microwaves) using solid state devices. A quasioptical design approach with many devices distributed over a surface several wavelengths in dimensions can be used to distribute large power to hundreds of low power devices. This technique is referred to as quasioptical array or grid technique. A few selected recent achievements are presented, demonstrating principles concerning arrays for oscillators, amplifiers, multipliers, phase shifters and mixers.