A PIN diode controlled variable attenuator using a 0-dB branch-line coupler

Author

Sun, Kae-Oh ; Choi, Min Ki ; Van der Weide, Daniel

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI, USA

Volume

15

Issue

6

fYear

2005

fDate

6/1/2005 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

440

Lastpage

442

Abstract

We describe a simple PIN diode controlled variable attenuator that employs a 0-dB branch line directional coupler. The response of the attenuator was measured between 1.3 GHz and 2.6 GHz. At the center frequency, the attenuation monotonically varied from 0.7 dB to 23 dB with the control voltage, and the distributed branch-line coupler structure resulted in low input reflection. Our attenuator is easier to design, smaller in area than a double hybrid coupled attenuator, and has comparable or better reflection and attenuation performance characteristics.

Keywords

attenuators; directional couplers; p-i-n diodes; 1.3 to 2.6 GHz; PIN diode; attenuation characteristics; branch-line directional coupler; reflection characteristics; variable attenuator; Attenuation; Attenuators; Automatic control; Coupling circuits; Diodes; Equivalent circuits; Frequency; H infinity control; Reflection; Resistors; Attenuator; PIN diode controlled variable attenuator; distributed branch-line coupler;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave and Wireless Components Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1531-1309

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LMWC.2005.850568

Filename

1435450