An 86-106 GHz quasi-integrated low noise Schottky receiver

An integrated planar receiver has been developed and tested over the 82-112 GHz bandwidth. The quasi-integrated antenna used in the receiver has a high gain, a high Gaussian coupling efficiency and a wide bandwidth. The mixer design consists of a planar GaAs Schottky diode placed at the feed of a dipole probe suspended inside an integrated horn antenna. The diode uses an etched surface channel and a planar air bridge for reduced parasitic capacitance. At 92 GHz, the room temperature antenna-mixer exhibits a double sideband (DBS) conversion loss and noise temperature of 5.5+or-0.5 Db and 770 K+or-50 K, respectively. The measured DSB conversion loss, and noise temperature over a 20-GHz bandwidth (86-106 GHz) remain less than 6.2+or-0.5 dB and 1000 K+or-50 K, respectively. The low cost of fabrication and simplicity of the design makes it ideal for millimeter- and submillimeter-wave receivers.>