MMIC resistive mixer with low conversion loss and low LO power

Abstract

A low conversion loss Ka-band Microwave Monolithic Integrated Circuits (MMIC) resistive mixer with Low LO power is designed using 0.15μm GaAs/InGaAs/AlGaAs pseudomorphic High Electron Mobility Transistor (pHEMT) Process Design Kit (PDK). The fabricated mixer is tested on-wafer using probe station. The measured results are in close agreement with the simulations which exhibit better than 6 dB conversion loss for an LO power of 0 dBm to +3.5 dBm. The chip size is 1.5mm × 1.5 mm and can easily be integrated into high performance Ka-band up-converters and receivers for cloud radar applications.