mm-wave integrated circuit wideband downconverters

Broadband integrated circuit mixers using crossbar suspended stripline structure or a finline configuration were developed with GaAs beam-lead diodes. A conversion loss of less than 7 dB was achieved over the 16 GHz instantaneous IF frequency band with the RF swept from 30 to 46 GHz and the LO at 48 GHz. Similar results were obtained with another mixer when the RF was swept from 18 to 30 GHz. W-band integrated circuit mixers with state-of-the-art performance over wide IF and RF bandwidths also have been developed. A conversion loss of less than 7.2 dB over a 20 GHz instantaneous RF bandwidth (86 to 106 GHz) has been achieved in a crossbar stripline structure, and less than 7.6 dB over 28 GHz (82 to 110 GHz) in a finline structure; GaAs beam-lead diodes are used. Integrated circuit building blocks, such as filters, broadside couplers, matching circuits and various transitions also were developed.