Photocharge-Modulated Passive Intermodulation on Ag₂O/Ag Junction in High-Power Microwave Devices

This letter studies the photocharge-modulated passive intermodulation (PIM) effect on the Ag
₂
O/Ag contact junction. It is demonstrated that the photocharge with the parasitic parameters on the contact junction can modulate the electron transport process and make the PIM components changed with photoillumination. The linear RC constant can change the nonlinear current strength, under the periodical photostimulation, and PIM components will vary with the photopulses. In the experiment, by using a specially designed coaxial fixture to measure the PIM response with RC components on the contact junction, a semianalytical model for this photoeffect-modulated contact PIM is demonstrated.