A GaAs Based Miniaturized C-Band Double Balanced Resistive IQ Modulator for Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications

A GaAs pHEMT based resistive (un biased) double balanced IQ modulator is designed with low DC power consumption to achieve desired conversion loss with natural isolation at each port using space qualified (0.25μm gate width) PH25 Process. The circuit element of the IQ modulator that approximate the nonlinear behavior is the channel resistance of an unbiased HEMT. The modulator is simulated using 2.5D EM solver. The chip size achieved on footprint of 4.2 mm × 4.1 mm × 0.16 mm. Miniaturized size makes it useful for the realization of system-on-chip frequency generator.