Impact of Ultra-Wideband Electromagnetic Interference on the Performance of a Passive Frequency Doubler

This article investigates the impact of ultra-wideband (UWB) electromagnetic interference (EMI) on the performance of a passive frequency doubler. The doubler, fabricated using $0.5~\mu $ m GaAs Schottky technology, was characterized under various UWB pulse amplitudes. Experimental measurements of conversion gain and harmonic levels were conducted and verified through simulations. To assess the variability of the results and determine degradation thresholds, a statistical analysis was performed that included the calculation of the mean and standard deviations of the measured parameters (conversion gain and harmonic suppression levels) for three identical devices. The doubler showed reversible performance degradation at lower UWB EMI amplitudes. However, at higher amplitudes, irreversible damage occurred. The threshold for irreversible damage was experimentally determined. Additionally, an analysis of N-norm was performed to assess the cumulative effect of multiple UWB pulse exposures. The feature selective validation method was applied to the second harmonic performance, confirming good agreement between the simulation and measurement results. This research provides valuable insights into the vulnerability of passive frequency doubler to UWB EMI and contributes to the development of robust protection strategies for critical RF components.