28 Watt X-band silicon P-I-N diode RFIC switches

Terminated and reflective integrated P-I-N diode switches capable of greater than 28W measured linear power handling at X-band have been developed. These extremely high performance devices exhibit low insertion loss, high isolation and excellent match to a 50ohm system. The enabling technology is M/A-COM Technology Solutions' patented silicon-glass HMIC process, providing lower parasitic impedances and variation than hybrid-discrete P-I-N diode modules. Test results of HMIC-fabricated switches are presented and compared with thermal models and EM simulations. Power linearity performance (0.1dB compression @ 28W) has been demonstrated in a silicon-based technology, superior to reported GaN HEMT switch performance.