MONOLITHIC 2-18-GHZ LOW-LOSS, ON-CHIP BIASED PIN DIODE SWITCHES

Two state-of-the-art monolithic GaAs PIN diode switches have been desi gned, fabricated and tested, These single-pole double-throw (SPDT) swi tches exhibit insertion losses of 1.15 +/- 0.15 dB over a 2-18 GHz ban d, which is an unprecedented performance in loss and flatness for mono lithic wideband switches incorporating on-chip bias networks, Isolatio n and return loss are greater than 43 dB and 12 dB, respectively, and the input port power handling is 23 dBm at 1-dB insertion loss compres sion, These performance characteristics were measured at a nominal bia s setting of -8 V, which corresponds to 3.7 mA of series diode bias: c urrent and a total de power consumption of 55mW. The input power at th e third-order interception is 40 dBm, The switches can handle up to 31 dBm (1.25 W) at a higher bias of -18 V and 9.3 mA.