Fast thin film vanadium dioxide microwave switches

Author

Sovero, E. ; Deakin, D. ; Higgins, J.A. ; DeNatale, J.F. ; Pittman, S.

Author_Institution

Rockwell Int. Sci. Center, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA

fYear

1990

fDate

7-10 Oct. 1990

Firstpage

101

Lastpage

103

Abstract

A new concept in microwave and millimeter-wave switching structures is demonstrated. The switch is built on a GaAs substrate and is compatible with IC technology. The approach used to implement the concept is to place a variable-resistance element spanning a very short gap (compared to the width of the line) on a metal transmission line. Switching the gap material from the high resistance state to the low resistance state turns the line from an open circuit to the connected state. The topics discussed include the material system used, a specific demonstration of a microwave switch using this system, possible applications of the switch, and its present limitations and how they could be overcome. A switch is built which at 40 GHz has an insertion loss of less than 1 dB in the on-state and more than 12 dB in the off-state. Switching time is under 30 ns.<>

Keywords

solid-state microwave devices; switches; vanadium compounds; 1 dB; 12 dB; 30 ns; 40 GHz; GaAs substrate; VO/sub 2/ film; compatible with IC technology; insertion loss; material system; metal transmission line; microwave switches; millimeter-wave switching structures; switching time; variable-resistance element; very short gap; Conductivity; Gallium arsenide; Insertion loss; Millimeter wave technology; Phased arrays; Semiconductor diodes; Substrates; Switches; Switching circuits; Transistors;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Gallium Arsenide Integrated Circuit (GaAs IC) Symposium, 1990. Technical Digest 1990., 12th Annual

Conference_Location

New Orleans, LA, USA

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/GAAS.1990.175460

Filename

175460