Title
Monolithic Attenuator/Limiter Using Nonlinear Resistors
Abstract
A novel attenuator/limiter circuit that uses nonlinear GaN epitaxial resistors is presented. The circuit is small, broadband as it does not use any reactive elements, does not use DC bias, and can be integrated on GaN or GaAs with other microwave elements and/or circuits. GaN epitaxial resistors have a saturation current limit which provides a limiting function. Resistive T-and Pi-network attenuators are implemented using GaN epitaxial resistors to limit the total power through the attenuator. A first-order equation of the trade-off between attenuation and flat leakage power is derived. Fabricated circuits show flat leakage powers 0.4 - 10 W with input powers , No noticeable spike-leakage is observed. The limiting attenuator is implemented at the input of an S-band 32 W PA for radar applications, and is shown to protect the input from overdrive while delivering consistent output power after limiter saturation.
Year
DOI
Venue
2018
10.1109/BCICTS.2018.8551095
2018 IEEE BiCMOS and Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuits and Technology Symposium (BCICTS)
Keywords
DocType
ISBN
GaN,attenuator,high-power limiter
Conference
978-1-5386-6503-9
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
0
0.34
0
Authors
2
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Scott Schafer100.34
Michael Roberg200.68