Novel thyristor-based microwave cross-point switch MMIC

A novel GaAs 16 × 16 cross-point switch monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) is presented. The switch MMIC incorporates 256 GaAs microwave thyristor devices as switching elements. The thyristors are two-terminal devices with anodes connected to a common horizontal electrode and cathodes connected to a common vertical electrode. Bistable operation of the thyristors permits x-y addressing at the edge of the chip to turn on and off each thyristor. Applications include low-cost low-power high-bandwidth switching of signals for broad-band services. A detailed description of the thyristor device, MMIC structure and design, and simulation and experimental results are presented. Multilayer laminate ball-grid-array package design for the switch matrix will also be explained in detail.