Modelling and design of a wideband 6–18 GHz GaN resistive mixer

A wideband hybrid AlGaN/GaN Resistive Mixer has been designed and simulated. The cold-FET mixer is based on a 2∗100∗0.25 µm² AlGaN/GaN HEMT in a single-ended circuit topology. An application-specific empirical transistor model has been extracted and validated in small- and large-signal conditions, in order to carry out the mixer design and simulations. This mixer presents an IF bandwidth of 6 GHz with a conversion loss < 16 dB for each RF and LO frequency choice from 6 up to 18 GHz.