A wideband anti-high-overload thermoelectric microwave power sensor based on GaAs MMIC technology

In this work, a wideband anti-high-overload thermoelectric microwave power sensor based on GaAs MMIC technology is proposed to overcome the deficiency of poor overload and easy burning. This power sensor contains two sections: the microwave power measurement section and the anti-high-overload section. The anti-high-overload principle is realized by the capacitive coupling of a cantilever beam over a CPW line which transfers the overload energy. This power sensor is measured in the frequency range up to 30 GHz with an input power in the 100 mW range. Over the 100 mW dynamic range, the sensitivity is about 0.358, 0.255, 0.184 and 0.102 mV/mW at 1, 10, 20 and 30 GHz, respectively, with the excellent linearity. The response time of this power sensor is about 9 ms. In addition to excellent linearity, broadband performance and anti-high-overload capability, another significant advantage is that this power sensor can be integrated with MMICs and other planar connecting circuit structures.