A novel, linear voltage variable MMIC attenuator

Author

Maoz, Barak

Author_Institution

Tachonics Corp., Princeton, NJ, USA

Volume

38

Issue

11

fYear

1990

fDate

11/1/1990 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1675

Lastpage

1683

Abstract

Voltage variable attenuators (VVAs) for microwave applications that are fabricated using present technology and design methods feature a nonlinear relationship between the attenuation measured in decibels and the control signal. A novel VVA that features a linear attenuation-control-voltage relationship without the need for external linearization is described. This is accomplished by connecting a number of FET segments in a unique fashion to form a composite FET. The channel resistance of the composite FET constitutes a prescribed function of its gate-source voltage. By careful design the resistance functions that are necessary for realization of linear attenuators are synthesized. The attenuator was fabricated using GaAs MMIC technology employing MESFETs as voltage variable resistors. It is completely passive and does not require a DC supply. The attenuation ranges from 2 to 15 dB over DC to 8 GHz while port impedance is kept close to 50 Ω. The deviation of the attenuation from a straight line is less than 0.2 dB

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; MMIC; Schottky gate field effect transistors; attenuators; equivalent circuits; field effect integrated circuits; gallium arsenide; 0 to 8 GHz; GaAs; MESFETs; composite FET; linear attenuation-control-voltage relationship; linear attenuators; microwave applications; monolithic microwave IC; passive implementation; voltage variable MMIC attenuator; voltage variable resistors; Attenuation measurement; Attenuators; Design methodology; Electrical resistance measurement; FETs; MMICs; Microwave measurements; Microwave technology; Microwave theory and techniques; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9480

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/22.60015

Filename

60015