MMIC applications of heterostructure interband tunnel devices

Abstract

This paper deals with recent achievements in the field of an emerging technology termed the quantum monolithic microwave integrated circuit (QMMIC). QMMIC consists of a heterojunction interband tunneling diode and a high electron-mobility transistor monolithically integrated to obtain a new functional device. This technology enables the realization of low-voltage, high-density, and high-functionality circuits. A detailed description of the design and analysis techniques for several circuits such as an amplifier, an oscillator, and a mixer, along with the analytical treatment of the principle of operation are given in this paper. A number of prototypes implemented in InP technology constitute the proof-of-concept of the unique features of QMMIC circuit blocks for low-power wireless systems.Index Terms-Linear mixer, low power, monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC), quantum-well devices, RF identification (RF ID), voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO).

A low local oscillator power K‐band mixer based on tunneling diodes

“…Furthermore, in Ref. 1, we demonstrated that the coefficient a 3 is responsible of the mixer linearity; comparing the coefficients in Table 1, it is seen that the ratio between the linear term and the 3rd order mixing product, a 2 /a 3 , is sensibly higher for HITD than Schottky diode-based mixer as long as the LO level required to properly drive the HITD-based mixer is within the quasi-square law region. This latter consideration justifies an input referred 1dBcp for the mixer technology under investigation that is very close to or even higher than the LO level.…”

“…The circuit is made with a pair of HITDs like those described in Ref. 1, and a 90°coplanar broadband coupler, and was designed and integrated monolithically on an InP substrate. The fabricated mixer prototype exhibits the lowest LO power requirements among those reported in the literature for the same range of applications and characteristics.…”

“…In recent years, the development of multiservice mobile wireless communication system has become attractive for the commercial products [1][2][3][4][5][6][7], especially in the new developed wireless local area network (WLAN) standards. Additionally, multiband filters with compactness have been studied extensively as a key circuit block in the wireless communication systems.…”

“…Additionally, multiband filters with compactness have been studied extensively as a key circuit block in the wireless communication systems. Several types of dual-band bandpass filters (BPFs), such as the cascaded connection of bandpass and bandstop sections [1], coupled stepped impedance resonators (SIRs) [2][3][4]7] and combination of two or more individual resonators [5][6][7]. In the sensitive receiver, the requirement of the high-performance filter also needs a broad upper rejection band to reduce the interference from out of-band signals [8 -10].…”

A new generation of negative-resistance devices—New developments in ultrahigh-frequency applications based on resonant tunneling elements

“…Because negative resistance is a distinctive characteristic of the RTD over a broad range of ultrahigh frequencies from submillimeter to terahertz waves, much research has been carried out with the intention of using its negative resistance in a sustained oscillator [7]. Moreover, the sudden change in current starting from the peak in the RTD I-V curve that marks the negative resistance region is a clear indicator that this nonlinearity can be strong, so that nonlinear circuits that use such nonlinearities (such as mixers and frequency multipliers) have been proposed [8,9]. Furthermore, since I-V characteristics with negative-resistance regions can give rise to bistability, there may be special advantages to fabricating RTD-based versions of digital circuits that use this property.…”