TUNABLE MICROWAVE LOAD BASED ON BIASED PHOTOINDUCED PLASMA IN SILICON

The frequency tuning of a quarter-wave resonator using an optoelectron ic control is reported, Sharp notch characteristics with a small decib el-insertion loss and tunable frequency with matching better than 45 d B are obtained by varying both the optical power and the de bias, The measured frequency shift is more than 60% below the dark resonant freq uency and is carried out without altering the shape of the response. T he biased photoinduced plasma (BPP) loading the open terminated micros trip line is then analyzed by comparing microwave simulations and meas urements, The deduced complex load equivalent to this biased photoindu ced plasma is then confirmed by semiconductor simulations, Results sho w the great possibilities offered by this BPP load (BPPL), which can b e easily and widely tuned by means of a simple optoelectronic control, The frequency bandwidth of tuning is limited by the geometrical param eters and may be extended to millimeter-wave operation.