PIN Diode Attenuator Research Articles

Design of 85–105GHz Wideband Traveling Wave PIN Diode Switches and Attenuators with Radial Stubs

Wideband traveling wave PIN Diode switches and attenuators are proposed. The switches and attenuators consist of three shunt PIN diodes, six radial stubs, bias circuit and DC return circuit. Wide bandwidth is achieved with six different radial stubs as reflective load of the diodes. The stubs work as short circuit to the diodes at different frequency points for broad bandwidth. For the Single pole single throw (SPST) switch, the lowest measured Insertion loss (IL) is 0.75dB and lower than 2.0dB in 85-105GHz, and its isolation is better than 21.3dB. As a Voltage-controlled variable attenuator (VCA), typical attenuation range is 23dB and attenuation fluctuation is lower than 5dB in 85-105GHz.

Reactance influence on PIN diode attenuators

The reactive component of a PIN diode is known to be a function of current due to conductivity modulation in the I-region. This reactive component can negatively influence predicted attenuation levels in PIN diode attenuators if not properly accounted for. A figure of merit based on the PIN diode parameters, DC forward current, and operation frequency, is proposed that determines the operating conditions where this reactive component can be safely ignored. Simulations and measurement data on PIN diodes of various I-region widths verify the proposed figure of merit.

Voltage-controlled PIN diode attenuator with a temperature-compensation circuit

This paper presents a voltage-controlled PIN diode attenuator and its temperature-compensation circuit composed of a thermistor and simple operational amplifier circuits. After carefully investigating the temperature characteristics of PIN diode attenuators, we designed voltage-controlled PIN diode attenuators showing the linear attenuation characteristics of 16 dB with input voltage within the operating temperature range. The fabricated attenuator has demonstrated the improvement of attenuation variation from 15 to 0.5 dB in the temperature range from -15 to 65/spl deg/C.

A low phase shift attenuator

A PIN diode attenuator with an average of 0.25/spl deg//dB phaseshift between 2.5 GHz and 5.3 GHz has been modelled and constructed. In particular the attenuator has similar phase at 0 dB and 12 dB of attenuation to within 0.5/spl deg/ over most of the band. The input match is better than 10 dB over the attenuation range of 0 to 10 dB.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Microwave attenuator having smooth attenuation control

In receivers of various categories, and likewise in radioinstrumentation engineering, extensive use is made of controlled pin-diode microwave attenuators that are employed as control elements in automatic gain control (AGC) devices, devices for weighted signal handling, etc. A specific form of the control characteristic (CC), which is defined as the dependence of the transmission factor K on the control input x con , is required for attenuators having smooth attenuation control (see [1]). In a number of cases (specifically, in devices for weighted handling of radar signals) linearity of the characteristic K is required (see [1]). The important requirements imposed on attenuators likewise include a low value of the losses and a broad band of the working frequencies.

Broadband millimetre-wave PIN-diode attenuator with double-ridge waveguide flanges

The letter reports new results on a broadband fin-line PIN-diode attenuator furnished with double-ridge waveguide flanges. The full bandwidth capabilities of fin line can thus be utilised. The attenuation is adjustable between 2 and 35 dB over the entire frequency band from 18 to 40 GHz.

Fin-line PIN-diode attenuators and switches for 94 GHz range

The letter reports new results of fin-line PIN-diode attenuators and switches for the 94 GHz range. Design and performance of SPST and SPDT switches?single-pole single-throw and single-pole double-throw, respectively?will be presented. The attenuation of the SPST switch, for example, can be adjusted between 2 and 35 dB over the entire waveguide band from 75 to 110 GHz.

Solutions to the Cross-Modulation Problems in Solid-State VHF-TV Tuners

Two solutions to the cross-modulation problem in VHF solid-state TV tuners are described. The first consists of a PIN diode attenuator preceding a common-gate FET amplifier. The second is a cascode arrangement of FET's designed to provide minimum cross-modulation. The performance of both solutions with respect to gain, noise figure, AGC range and skewing, and cross-modulation is compared to the performance of a 6HA5 amplifier at 200 MHz.