Device considerations and modeling for the design of an InP-based MODFET millimeter-wave resistive mixer with superior conversion efficiency

Author

Lin, Eric W. ; Ku, Walter H.

Author_Institution

TRW Inc., Redondo Beach, CA, USA

Volume

43

Issue

8

fYear

1995

fDate

8/1/1995 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1951

Lastpage

1959

Abstract

We report on the device considerations for resistive FET mixer applications and discuss the design and fabrication of an optimized InP-based 0.1 μm gate length planar-doped pseudomorphic In_0.42Al_0.58As-In_0.65Ga_0.35As modulation-doped FET (MODFET) well-suited for resistive mixer applications. In addition, we present a general large-signal model suitable for describing the FET in its passive mode of operation to assist in the design and simulation of such mixers. Finally, we discuss the theoretical design of a novel W-band, image-reject resistive mixer based on a large-signal model of our optimized device. The predicted performance of the mixer under +8 dBm of LO drive indicates a minimum conversion loss of 9 dB at 94 GHz, a significant improvement of over 3 dB in comparison to similar GaAs-based mixers, suggesting the potential of InP-based resistive mixer technology to achieve superior conversion loss performance

Keywords

HEMT circuits; III-V semiconductors; equivalent circuits; high electron mobility transistors; indium compounds; millimetre wave field effect transistors; millimetre wave mixers; semiconductor device models; 0.1 micron; 9 dB; 94 GHz; EHF; HEMT mixer; In_0.42Al_0.58As-In_0.65Ga_0.35As; InP-based MODFET; MM-wave mixer; W-band; conversion efficiency; conversion loss performance; fabrication; image-reject resistive mixer; large-signal model; millimeter-wave resistive mixer; modeling; modulation-doped FET; passive mode; planar-doped pseudomorphic MODFET; resistive FET mixer; Design optimization; HEMTs; Image converters; MODFETs; Microwave FETs; Millimeter wave technology; Mixers; Performance loss; Radio frequency; Switches;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9480

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/22.402285

Filename

402285