Double-balanced, hybrid mixer with multi-decade bandwidth

An ultra-broadband mixer design that uses a hybrid technology is described. The design incorporates a low-barrier diode mixer, thin film interconnect, and a pHEMT LO-drive amplifier. The mixer gives better than -35 dB conversion efficiency at RF frequencies from less than 10 MHz to greater than 110 GHz for at least 10,000:1 bandwidth. Simulations show that the mixer, with some improvements, can operate from 10 MHz to 150 GHz. Multiple mixers can be integrated into a single hybrid module. An integrated dual-mixer module with pHEMT RF-buffer amplifiers is also described. This mixer module is limited by the bandwidth of the buffer amplifiers, but still gives better than -35 dB conversion efficiency from less than 10 MHz to 100 GHz.