A V-band up-converting InP HEMT active mixer with low LO-power requirements

We present a monolithically integrated up-converting active mixer that shifts a signal in the 16 GHz range up to the V-band using a 48 GHz local oscillator (LO) signal. The circuit was realized with the 0.2 μm InP HEMT in-house process of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich using coplanar-waveguide technology. Measurements of the fabricated circuit show a peak conversion gain of 1 dB at 64.5 GHz for -1.7 dBm LO power, LO suppression better than 30 dB and input third-order intercept point of -1.6 dBm. This mixer will be employed in the signal up-conversion path of a 60 GHz transceiver for indoor wireless LANs.