A double balanced 3-18 GHz resistive HEMT monolithic mixer

A double balanced (DB) 3-18 GHz resistance HEMT (high electron mobility transistor) monolithic mixer has been successfully developed. This mixer consists of a AlGaAs/InGaAs HEMT quad, an active LO (local oscillator) balun, and two passive baluns, RF and IF (intermediate frequency). At 16 dBm LO power, this mixer achieves the conversion losses of 7.5-9 dB for 4-14 GHz RF and 7.5-11 dB for 3-18 GHz RF. The simulated conversion loss is very much in agreement with the measured results. Also, a third-order input intercept of +26 dBm is achieved for a 10-11 GHz RF and 1 GHz IF at a LO drive of 16 dBm. The design is believed to be the first DB resistive HEMT MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuit) mixer covering up to 6:1 bandwidth.<
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