Novel Harmonic Distortion Analysis Method Using Ramo-Shockley Theorem

In this paper, we propose a method to analyze the harmonic distortion (HD) of the RF switch modules using the Ramo-Shockley theorem. This method can quantify the spatial contribution of HD current on the signal electrode by means of Ramo-Shockley theorem’ s induced image charge current. With this method, for example, it can be graphically explained the well-known phenomenon that the HD2 in a coplanar waveguide (CPW) shows minimum value when CPW has structural symmetricity due to cancelling out HD2 current by image charg in the substrate. Our TCAD method is capable to provide the intuition for the design for HD improvement by analyzing the behavior of the carriers in silicon related to harmonic distortions (HD2, HD3, etc.)