Design of 300 GHz Combined Doubler/Subharmonic Mixer Based on Schottky Diodes with Integrated MMIC Based Local Oscillator

José M Pérez-Escudero,Carlos Quemada,Iñigo Ederra,Ramón Gonzalo

doi:10.3390/electronics9122112

José M Pérez-Escudero, Carlos Quemada + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9122112

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Abstract

In this paper the design and experimental characterization of a combined doubler-subharmonic mixer based on Schottky diodes which uses a 75 GHz MMIC based local oscillator is presented. This solution integrates in the same substrate the doubler and the mixer, which share the same metallic packaging with the local oscillator. The prototype has been fabricated and measured. For characterization, the Y-Factor technique has been used and the prototype yields a best conversion loss and equivalent noise temperature of 11 dB and 1976 K, respectively, at 305 GHz. This performance is close to the state of the art, and shows the potential of this approach, which allows a significant reduction in terms of size and volume.

Highlights

For many decades the lack of efficient sources and detectors working in the submillimetre wave and terahertz ranges has led to the so-called THz-gap
The combination of Unitravelling Carrier Photodiodes (UTC-PD) and frequency multipliers has been proposed [3,4], and photonic techniques have been used for local oscillator (LO) distribution [5], allowing to benefit from the best of both fields
In this work we propose a THz receiver which integrates a frequency multiplier and a subharmonic mixer and a millimeter wave LO source

Summary

Introduction

For many decades the lack of efficient sources and detectors working in the submillimetre wave and terahertz ranges has led to the so-called THz-gap. Progresion has been largely motivated by the plethora of applications of THz technology: terahertz imaging, security, medical, radioastronomy or communications [11,12,13,14,15,16,17] In this last case, these systems follow Edholm’s law, which states that telecommunication data rates are as predictable as Moore’s law, that is, the demand for point-to-point bandwidth in wireless communications doubles every months [18]. Electronics 2020, 9, 2112 these links present other advantages such as lower susceptibility to scintillation effects than infrared wireless links and the possibility to use them for secure communications [19] For these applications, receivers are usually based on Schottky diode mixers, which allow room temperature operation and fast modulation, which is a great advantage for high data rate links.

Design

Passive Circuit Design

Harmonic Balance

Manufacturing and Experimental Validation

Findings

Conclusions