RF performance of a novel planar millimeter-wave diode incorporating an etched surface channel

A whiskerless millimeter-wave mixer diode that yields performance comparable to that of the highest-quality whisker-contacted diodes is discussed. The diode uses an etched surface channel and planar air bridge to obtain greatly reduced parasitic capacitance. At 94 GHz, the room-temperature diode exhibited a conversion loss of 5.3 dB+or-0.5 dB and an equivalent input noise temperature of 518 K+or-50 K SSB (single sideband).<
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