Looking Back at Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits

The historical progression of the artifacts has mirrored the evolution of the MMIC field.A monolithic microwave integrated circuit is an active or passive microwave circuit formed in situ on a semiconductor substrate by a combination of deposition techniques including diffusion, evaporation, epitaxy, implantation and other means. It is appropriate to note that the raison d'être for this technology was to fulfill the following objectives: 1) low cost, 2) reliability and reproducibility, 3) small size and weight, 4) circuit design flexibility and multifunction capabilities, and 5) multioctave performance.