Harmonic Mixer Research Articles

A 24.25–30 GHz radio frequency up‐down converter with harmonic distortions rejection for 5G millimeter wave radio channel emulator applications

AbstractIn this paper, a 24.25–30 GHz fully integrated radio frequency (RF) up‐down converter with harmonic distortions rejection for 5G millimeter wave radio channel emulator applications is proposed and implemented in a 0.1‐μm GaAs pseudomorphic high‐electron‐mobility transistor technology. The RF up‐down converter integrates a frequency doubling amplifier chain local oscillator, a harmonic suppression mixer, and three frequency selective filters for unwanted harmonics suppression. To prevent the unwanted harmonics from leaking into the RF band, a higher sideband and high‐intermediate frequency mixer core with harmonic suppression filters is proposed. With this method, the unwanted harmonics are well suppressed. To effectively reduce the chip area, a miniaturized Marchand Balun based on a folded structure is proposed. The measured results demonstrate good in‐band spectral purity with more than 70 dB suppression of unwanted harmonics. Benefit from the high‐side injection mixing scheme and harmonics suppression method, the presented up‐down converter achieves a dynamic power range of −100 to −5 dBm with a conversion loss of 10 dB. The implemented RF up‐down converter occupies only 0.9 × 2.7 mm2 in size, with a power consumption of 400 mW under 4‐V supply.

An LO phase shifter with frequency tripling and phase detection in 28 nm FD-SOI CMOS for mm-wave 5G transceivers

This paper presents an LO phase shifter with frequency tripling for 28-GHz 5G transceivers. The phase shifting and frequency tripling are achieved using an injection-locked oscillator and injection-locked frequency tripler, respectively. A phase detector based on third harmonic mixing is also implemented and is used to detect the applied phase shift, supporting automatic calibration of the phase shifter. Additionally, an algorithm to automatically tune the oscillators to their respective locking frequency is presented. To test the phase shifter, a 24–30-GHz sliding-IF receiver is implemented. Simulations show that a > 360^circ tuning range over the full 24–30 GHz span is achieved, with a gain variation of 0.11 dB or less, and that the phase detector has an rms phase error of < 2.5^circ . The circuit is implemented in a 28nm FD-SOI CMOS process and the entire chip measures 1080 upmu hbox {m}times 1080 upmu hbox {m}, including pads, and consumes 27–29 mW from a 1 V supply.

Analysis and Design of Power-Efficient H-Band CMOS Frequency Doubler Employing Gain Boosting and Harmonic Enhancing Techniques

This article presents a power-efficient frequency doubler employing gain boosting and harmonic-enhancing techniques. With a single transistor only, the gain boosting technique can reach the maximum achievable gain ( <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">G</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">max</sub> ) by adding embedded passive components, thereby obtaining high voltage swings. Then, the transistor’s nonlinearity is essential, which is maximized by the harmonic transition scheme of the transistor operation along with high voltage swings. In addition, a harmonic reflector and a harmonic leakage canceller are employed for the second harmonic enhancement. The harmonic reflector prevents unwanted harmonic mixing by minimizing the incoming second harmonic current fed back to the input. The harmonic leakage canceller suppresses the leakage loss of the second harmonic current present at the output. Furthermore, thanks to a proposed dual-band output matching network, the output impedance is conjugately matched to achieve the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">G</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">max</sub> at the fundamental frequency while it is matched to extract the second harmonic output power simultaneously. To verify the proposed techniques, the prototype was designed as a single-stage circuit that does not require additional amplifying stages, which led to higher power efficiency and lower chip area. Implemented in a 65-nm CMOS process, the measurement results show a saturated output power of 0.9 dBm and 3-dB bandwidth of 26 GHz (237-263 GHz), respectively, while requiring a chip area of 0.071 mm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> . Total power efficiency, including the effect of injected signal power, is 2.87 % while consuming only 37 mW dc power.

Wideband Microwave Vector Network Analyzer Based on Photonic Harmonic Mixing

Wideband Microwave Vector Network Analyzer Based on Photonic Harmonic Mixing

Terahertz Nondestructive Testing with Ultra-Wideband FMCW Radar

This paper presents the development, performance, integration, and implementation of a 150 GHz FMCW radar based on a homodyne harmonic mixing scheme for noncontact, nondestructive testing. This system offers high-dynamic-range measurement capabilities up to 100 dB and measurement rates up to 7.62 kHz. Such interesting characteristics make this system attractive for imaging applications or contactless sensing. Numerous samples of different materials and geometries were imaged by taking advantage of the radar's performance. By taking into account the nonionizing capability of the system, new applicative fields such as food industry and pharmaceutical packaging were explored.

High-Tc Superconducting Josephson Junction Harmonic Mixers with Stub Tuners on Integrated Bowtie Antennas

Ordinary mixers can hardly meet the requirements in terahertz (THz) communications due to the low-power and expensive THz sources. Sensitive harmonic mixers have been widely studied to avoid this problem, owing to the fact that the higher the number of harmonics, the lower the local oscillator (LO) frequency, and the lower the cost. High-Tc superconducting (HTS) Josephson junction (JJ) mixers are performing candidates for THz receiver frontends because of the advantages of excellent sensitivity, wide bandwidth, high harmonic number and low LO power requirement. However, the normal-state resistance of HTS JJ is so low that traditional antennas are difficult to match it. In other words, it is quite a challenge to match the input impedance to a low input impedance for traditional antennas, especially for antennas fed by coplanar striplines (CPSs). In this work, based on the structure of bowtie, two types of stub tuners were integrated to decrease the impedance of the bowtie antenna so as to improve the coupling efficiency between the traditional bowtie antenna and the JJ. Furthermore, HTS YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO) JJ harmonic mixers coupled with the proposed structures and fed by CPSs are fabricated and measured. The measurements show that the JJ mixer coupled with a pair of open-end stubs of the bowtie antenna achieves up to 88 harmonics, with a conversion efficiency of −69.6 dB. In contrast, the JJ mixer coupled with a pair of lumped-element stubs of the bowtie antenna only attains to 30 harmonics, with a conversion efficiency of −73.4 dB. Additional numerical simulations indicate that the coupling efficiency is enhanced when the complex impedance of the antenna is explicitly considered. Compared with other coupled traditional antennas, the JJ mixer with bowtie antenna has the largest harmonic number. This work paves the way for the future application of low-frequency and low-cost LO for THz communications.

Analysis of Offset Spurs in Phase-Locked-Loops Employing Harmonic-Mixer-Based Feedback With Sample-and-Hold Operation

Fractional-N phase-locked loops using Harmonic-Mixer (HM) based feedback offer good phase noise and spur performance without relying on complex calibration schemes. The HMs in prior art are often realized using the Sample-and-Hold (S/H) operation. This, however, can result in unwanted tones due to intermodulation, which must be suppressed using properly-designed filters. This paper proposes a simple and accurate analysis of the location and magnitude of these tones. We also provide a design guideline for the HM based on this analysis to properly suppress these tones. The results are supported through behavioral and transistor-level simulations.

Excitonic resonances control the temporal dynamics of nonlinear optical wave mixing in monolayer semiconductors

Monolayer semiconductors are an emerging platform for strong nonlinear light–matter interactions that are enhanced by the giant oscillator strength of tightly bound excitons. Little attention has been paid to the impact of excitonic resonances on the temporal dynamics of such nonlinearities, since harmonic generation and optical wave mixing are generally considered instantaneous processes. We find that a significant time difference, ranging from −40 to +120 fs, is necessary between two light pulses for optimal sum-frequency generation (SFG) and four-wave mixing (FWM) to occur from monolayer WSe2 when one of the pulses is in resonance with an excitonic transition. These resonances involve both band-edge A excitons and high-lying excitons that comprise electrons from conduction bands far above the bandgap. Numerical simulations in the density-matrix formalism rationalize the distinct dynamics of SFG and FWM. The interpulse delays for maximal SFG and FWM are governed primarily by the lifetime of the one-photon and two-photon resonant states, respectively. The method therefore offers an unconventional probe of the dynamics of excitonic states accessible with either one-photon or two-photon transitions. Remarkably, the longest delay times occur at the lowest excitation powers, indicating a strong nonlinearity that offers exploration potential for excitonic quantum nonlinear optics. Researchers show that resonant coupling of light pulses with excitonic transitions affects the optimal time difference between pulses for sum-frequency generation and four-wave mixing in monolayer WSe2.

Optical parametric oscillator and amplifier providing tunable, narrowband nanosecond laser pulses in the mid-infrared with mJ pulse energy

We report on an all-solid-state light source for nanosecond (ns) laser pulses, with broad tunability in the mid-infrared, spectral bandwidth close to the Fourier transform limit, and pulse energy in the mJ regime. To this end, we extend a tunable, continuous wave (cw) singly resonant optical parametric oscillator by an optical parametric pre-amplifier with a periodically poled lithium niobate crystal and a power amplifier stage with two bulk lithium niobate crystals. We demonstrate pulse energies beyond 1 mJ in a tuning range between 3.3 and 3.8 upmu mathrm {m} center wavelength, with options for even larger output pulse energy and tuning range. The total conversion efficiency in the power amplifier reaches 20%. From measurements of absorption spectroscopy, we determine a very narrow linewidth of 108 MHz (full width at half maximum, FWHM), which is only a factor of 1.4 above the Fourier limit. We demonstrate the applicability and versatility of the laser system for nonlinear spectroscopy by resonantly enhanced third harmonic generation and sum frequency mixing in a gas sample of HCl molecules.

600-GHz high-temperature superconducting sub-harmonic mixer coupled using a double-Y-type slot integrated lens antenna

In this paper, we present a quasi-optically coupled 600-GHz high-temperature superconducting (HTS) sub-harmonic mixer for communication and sensing applications. The mixer features an innovative double-Y-type slot integrated lens antenna, which can efficiently couple the radio frequency (RF) and local oscillator (LO) signals with a small frequency ratio by exciting the half-wave and full-wave resonant current modes on the slot, respectively. Considering the low impedance characteristics of HTS Josephson junctions, a coplanar-waveguide stepped impedance transformer is utilized for minimizing the mismatching loss. A cascaded filter network is designed to prevent the high-frequency signal leakage at both bands while coupling the intermediate-frequency (IF) signal output efficiently. Based on this antenna design and an established HTS step-edge junction technology, a 600-GHz mixer prototype was designed, fabricated and measured, which was compared with the simulation results. The achieved conversion gain and noise temperature are the best performance specs as reported to date for HTS harmonic mixers at comparable frequencies and operating temperatures.

A Reconfigurable Balun-LNA and Tunable Filter With Frequency-Optimized Harmonic Rejection for Sub-GHz and 2.4 GHz IoT Receivers

A CMOS reconfigurable balun-LNA and tunable filter is proposed for sub-GHz and 2.4 GHz IoT applications. The core of the LNA gain stage is composed of two cascaded inverters for the single-to-differential conversion, and the additional inverter is placed in the feedback path for the implementation of the active feedback. In the sub-GHz band, it operates as an active feedback LNA by enabling all inverter stages. At the narrow 2.4 GHz band, it operates as an inductive source degenerated LNA (ISDLNA) with a minimum noise figure (NF) by disabling the inverter in the feedback path. In order to suppress the unwanted local oscillator (LO) harmonic mixing in the sub-GHz band and provide the frequency-optimized harmonic rejection ratio (HRR), a reconfigurable Sallen-Key (SK) filter-based <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$4^{\mathbf {th}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -order tunable filter is proposed on the basis of the modified super source follower (SSF) with enhanced loop gain. It covers the entire VHF band with a smaller capacitance tuning ratio by switching the polarity of the output of the modified SSF. Compared to previous works, this work provides the largest tuning range from 50 MHz to 700 MHz without splitting individually optimized circuits corresponding to each frequency band and using no external board components. This is the first suggestion of a fully integrated SK filter-based tunable filter to cover VHF/UHF bands through a hardware re-configurability without increasing the tuning ratio of the switched capacitor array, while providing an optimum HRR performance for corresponding operating frequencies in conjunction with harmonic rejection mixer (HRM). In addition, it proposes a hardware efficient re-configurable balun-LNA to operate as a wideband feedback LNA at sub-GHz and a narrowband ISDLNA at 2.4 GHz without the use of external input matching circuits. In the measurement, the proposed front-end achieves an average power gain ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{S}_{{21}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ) of 25.9 dB, NF of < 4.25 dB, and in-band input-referred third-order intercept point (IIP3) of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$&gt;\!\!\!-12.8$ </tex-math></inline-formula> dBm over the tuning range from 50 MHz to 700MHz. The proposed tunable filter shows the frequency-optimized HRR from 10 dBc to 26 dBc over the tuning range while greatly reducing a silicon area. At 2.4 GHz band, it shows <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{S}_{{21}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of 14.7 dB, NF of 3.2 dB, and in-band IIP3 of −4.5 dBm. The die area of the proposed circuit, excluding I/O PADs and the measurement output buffer, is less than 2.0 mm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> . The power consumption of the front-end working at sub-GHz and 2.4 GHz bands is 33.6 mW and 5.1 mW respectively.

The Optoelectronic Mixing Characterization of Uni-Traveling Carrier Photodetector

In this work, the optoelectronic mixing characteristics of the uni-traveling carrier photodetector (UTC-PD) were investigated. Three different types of optoelectronic mixing modes were analyzed, including fundamental mixing, harmonic mixing, and RF subharmonic mixing. The output power bias voltage-dependent behaviors of a 60-GHz optical sinusoidal wave and its harmonic signals were studied. The methods that can significantly improve the power of the optoelectronic mixing output signal were proposed. It is found that setting the peak-to-peak value of the RF signal at the bias end in the optimized bias voltage range where the RF output power can obtain a larger increment is the key to obtaining a high power mixing product. Increasing the power of the optical signal to make the output power increment in the same bias range further increased is also effective to enhance the mixing product. Taking the same techniques, the output power of the higher order harmonic mixing product can also be improved, which makes the higher order harmonic mixing application of the UTC-PD feasible.

Direct Experimental Observation of Harmonics of Josephson Generation in the Flux-Flow Oscillator

We present an experimental observation and a study of harmonics of radiation from a flux-flow oscillator (FFO) based on a long Josephson junction. An integrated microcircuit consisting of the FFO, the transmitting antenna and a harmonic mixer (HM) was used to provide the phase-locked emission in the terahertz (THz) range to open space. Both the FFO and the HM were made of superconductor–insulator–superconductor (SIS) trilayers based on Nb/AlO <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">_x</i> /Nb. Two independent techniques were used for detecting of the output emission: a THz Fourier transform spectrometer with a wideband detector based on an 4.2 K silicon bolometer, and a THz spectrometer based on the heterodyne SIS receiver with a high spectral resolution. The FFO spectral composition obtained using the FTS demonstrates the main Josephson frequency and clear higher harmonics. Following that, the spectral characteristics of the 2 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">nd</sup> harmonic at a frequency of 600–670 GHz (corresponding to the main frequency of 300–335 GHz) were carefully studied with a spectral resolution better than 0.1 MHz using the SIS receiver. To our knowledge, this is the first direct high-frequency observation of Josephson harmonics carried out at the true frequency of oscillations, which is in contrast to dc measurements.

A 77-GHz Low-Conversion-Loss Fourth-Harmonic Mixer on SISL Platform

This letter presents a 77-GHz low-conversion-loss (CL) fourth-harmonic mixer based on the substrate-integrated suspended line (SISL) platform. Based on the traditional stub-type harmonic mixing structure, we add several additional transmission lines, which will participate in the impedance matching of the diode together with stubs to reduce the CL. A 3-D electromagnetic (EM) diode model is established for accurate simulation at millimeter-wave frequency. The presented SISL mixer was fabricated by the low-cost printed circuit board (PCB) process and was self-packaged in FR4 substrates. When the local oscillator (LO) frequency is 19.45 GHz and the radio frequency (RF) is 78 GHz, the minimum CL is 12.2 dB under an LO input power of 12 dBm. This mixer is suitable for 77-GHz automotive anti-collision radar systems.

Design of IF-RF-Based Heterodyne Transmitter Using Current Steering DAC with 5.4 GHz Spur-Free Bandwidth

The paper presents an intermediate frequency (IF) radio frequency (RF)-based heterodyne transmitter using current steering DAC. In the proposed design, a single digital AND gate is used as IF mixer and modulator of input data. This IF signal is further mixed with local oscillator signal in the current steering DAC to obtain RF output signal. The AND gate-based IF modulator converts input signal to square wave. This square wave does not contain even harmonics and consists of odd harmonics, which reduces harmonic mixing products. In addition, double differential architecture has been used in current steering DAC to cancel even harmonics. With cancellation of even harmonics in IF and RF signals, the output spectrum consists of only odd multiple of RF output frequency, resulting in spur-free bandwidth of 5.4 GHz for the RF output frequency of 2.4 GHz. The proposed transmitter employs 64-quadrature amplitude modulation which gives an output power of 446 m dBm without a power amplifier. Monte-Carlo simulations have been performed to verify the reliability of the circuit against process and mismatch variations, and it has been found that the circuit parameters are less sensitive to process variations.

Noise and Conversion Analyses for High-T c Superconducting Harmonic Mixers: Theoretical Modeling and Experimental Verification

High- <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">T</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">c</sub> superconducting (HTS) harmonic mixers are attractive frontends for terahertz wireless communication and sensing applications. However, the investigation of HTS harmonic mixers has long been hindered by the lack of effective theoretical method in device modeling. This article presents a modeling approach for analyzing the noise and conversion properties of HTS harmonic mixers. By quantitively analyzing the contribution of the parasitic components to frequency conversion, a parasitics-selection based equivalent circuit model is built with the architecture complexity reduced to a six-port network. Besides, a fast hybrid-solution method that combines the single-tone current excitation and perturbation-derivation processing techniques, is developed for efficiently calculating the conversion impedance matrix for harmonic mixing. Detailed derivations are then carried out to acquire the semianalytic expressions of noise temperature and conversion gain after solving the noise correlation matrix for harmonic mixing. The presented modeling method has been verified by the fourth harmonic mixing experiments for a dual-band antenna-coupled HTS Josephson-junction mixer module. The measured and simulated results are in good agreement in terms of the noise temperature and conversion gain as well as their dependance on dc biasing, local oscillator pumping, and operating temperatures. The results have validated the effectiveness of the presented modeling method for analyzing the properties of HTS Josephson junction mixers.

A design method of harmonic mixers based on Schottky diodes applied for millimeter wave components

A design method of harmonic mixers based on Schottky diodes applied for millimeter wave components

A Design Method of Harmonic Mixers Based on Schottky Diodes Applied for Millimeter Wave Components

AbstractOn the basic theory of millimeter wave mixing technology, harmonic mixers in multiple different frequency bands are systematically studied. This paper innovatively establishes a 3D model of the diode, gives it material properties, and uses magnetic field circuit software for co‐simulation, and finally develops a beautifully structured W‐band 89 GHz sub‐harmonic mixer. Simulation and test results show that when the local oscillator (LO) is fixed at 45 GHz, the conversion loss of the LO at 84–94 GHz is better than 14 dB, and the minimum conversion loss is 9 dB. The actual test results are relatively consistent with the simulation trend.

Harmonic dual dressing of spin-1/2 systems

Controlled modifications of the magnetic response of a two-level system are produced in dressed systems by one high-frequency, strong, and nonresonant electromagnetic field. This quantum control is greatly enhanced and enriched by a harmonic, commensurable, and orthogonally oriented dual dressing, as discussed here. The secondary field enables a fine tuning of the qubit response, with control parameter amplitude, harmonic content, spatial orientation, and phase relation. Our analysis, mainly based on a perturbative approach with respect to the driving strength, includes also nonperturbative numerical solutions. The Zeeman response becomes anisotropic in a triaxial geometry and includes a nonlinear quadratic contribution. The long-time dynamics is described by an anisotropic effective magnetic field representing the handle for the system full engineering. Through the low-order harmonic mixing, the bichromatic driving generates a synthetic static field modifying the system dynamics. The spin temporal evolution includes a micromotion at harmonics of the driving frequency whose role in the spin detection is examined. Our dressing increases the two-level energy splitting, improving the spin detection sensitivity. In the weak-field direction it compensates the static fields applied in different geometries. The results presented here lay a foundation for additional applications to be harnessed in quantum simulations.

The Harmonic Mixers resources research

The Harmonic Mixers resources research