AlGaN/GaN mixer MMICs, and RF front-end receivers for C-, Ku-, and Ka-band space applications

AlGaN/GaN HEMTs have been widely used in RF power circuits such as high power amplifiers. This is mainly due to the capability to handle large power. Besides this main advantage, this technology demonstrates good performances in terms of noise, linearity, and robustness. This paper presents the design, and measurement results of different mixers operating at C-, Ku-, and Ka-band. All designs make use of 0.25μm, and 0.15μm AlGaN/GaN microstrip technology. The best measured conversion losses (CL) are 10dB, 9dB, and 11dB, and the 1dB compression points referred to the output (P1dBout) are measured at -1dBm, 1dBm, and -1dBm for the C-, Ku-, and Ka-frequency band respectively. Three breadboards of RF front-end receiver have been as well manufactured to evaluate the robustness of such technology. The measured conversion gain are +21dB, +20dB, and +14dB, and the P1dBout are 10dBm, 11dBm, and 3dBm for the C-, Ku-, Ka-band respectively.