COMPACT HYBRID COAXIAL ARCHITECTURE FOR 3 GHZ-10 GHZ UWB QUASI-OPTICAL POWER COMBINERS

Tray-type quasi-optical (QO) power combiners are able to combine the high- and medium-output power of QO systems with the well-known advantages of pulsed ultra-wideband (UWB) systems. In this work, an alternative low-profile tray-type passive structure for 3 GHz-10 GHz power combining is proposed. The purpose of the proposed solution is to reduce the physical size with respect to other existing architectures by using hybrid coaxial lines. In spite of the reduced size, the structure maintains ultra-wideband operation and high combining efficiency, as proved through measurements. Therefore, the proposed structure is suitable for integration with monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifiers for medium- and high-power generation, depending on the type of MMICs which are integrated into the passive combiner. Numerical analyses of the designed power combiner integrated with some MMIC amplifiers reveal its benefits in terms of increased output power and wider dynamic range compared to isolated MMICs.