New Thermocouple-Based Microwave/Millimeter-Wave Power Sensor MMIC Techniques in GaAs

We describe a new RF and microwave power sensor monolithic microwave integrated circuit design. The circuit incorporates a number of advances over existing designs. These include a III-V epitaxial structure optimized for sensitivity, the figure-of-merit applicable to the optimization, a mechanism for in-built detection of load ageing and damage to extend calibration intervals, and a novel symmetrical structure to linearize the high-power end of the scale.