A High Power Millimeter Passive Solid State Limiter

The design of an array of limiter diodes arranged in series/parallel configuration to form an RF activated control window has enhanced significantly the performance of solid state control components. A monolithic element is formed using high resistivity silicon and fabricated in a beam lead form for easy mounting in a waveguide structure. Key features are high power, low loss and broad band characteristics. Results to date have shown 500 watt (1 microsec pulse) power capability with 25 dB limiting and 1.0 dB insertion loss for a dual element Q-band passive limiter. This is ~15 dB greater power handling than with conventional packaged diodes.