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An Ultrabroadband Microstrip Detector up to 40 GHz

Conference Paper · April 2008

DOI: 10.1109/COMITE.2008.4569922 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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 An Ultrabroadband Microstrip Detector up to 40 GHz
Luis A. TEJEDOR-ÁLVAREZ1 , José I. ALONSO 2 , Jorge GONZÁLEZ-MARTÍN 3
1 3
, Indra Sistemas, C/La Madera s/n, 28850 Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid), Spain
2
Dept. of Signals, Systems and Radiocommunications, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.
Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
latejedor@eservicios.indra.es, ignacio@gmr.ssr.upm.es, jgomartin@indra.es
Abstract. Detectors designing is a key aspect for the devel-
opment of the new millimeter wave systems. In this paper
two detectors in microstrip technology are presented. They
use zero bias Schottky diodes to detect signals from low fre-
quency to 40 GHz. High sensibility, flat frequency response
and ultrabroadband are the main features of these designs.
They are also cheap and easy to mount because they have
been built using microstrip technology. This paper explains
most technological questions which must be taken into ac-
count to design such detectors.
Keywords
Detector, millimeter wave, ultrabroadband, zero bias
diode, RF ground, ultrabroadband load.
1. Introduction
Detectors are a key circuit in many communications
systems, as well as in warfare or radio astronomy applica-
tions on millimeter wave bands. Coherent and superhetero-
dyne schemes allow better sensibility and signal to noise ra-
tio, but when frequency goes up circuits become more and
more complex so direct detection is preferred in that cases.
Over the millimeter wave frequency band, non coherent de-
tectors are the most common choice. [1]
High sensibility and good matching are the most im-
portant features a detector should have, although assem-
bling simplicity is also a significant point at very high fre-
quency. Nowadays, there are commercial Planar-Doped
Barrier (PDB) diode detectors which can work up to 40 GHz
with a sensibility of around 0.5 V/mW, an adaptation below
12 dB and coaxial interface. If waveguide is used instead of
coaxial, sensibility can increase to 1 V/mW. [2] [3] [4]
However, it’s sometimes necessary to design specific
detectors to accomplish special requirements, improve sen-
sibility, reduce reflected power or to make assembly eas-
ier. In this paper two ultrawide band diode detectors are
presented. They use two Agilent HSCH-9161 low barrier,
zero bias, beam lead GaAs detector diodes mounted on mi-
crostrip circuits. Both are functional up to 40 GHz with
quite flat response. The difference is that one of them is
designed to optimize sensibility while the other tries to im-
Model Sensibility(V/mW) Matching(dB) Interface
Agilent 8474E 0.4 12.7 coaxial
Agilent R422C 0.42 11 waveguide
Design 1(non adapted) 1 2 microstrip
Design 2 (adapted) 0.4 10 microstrip
Tab. 1: Detector features comparison
prove adaptation. Table 1 shows the main characteristics
of the designed detectors, compared with two comercial de-
vices.
Looking at table 1, it seems that there is not great ad-
vantage in using the new designs. Design one allows higher
sensibility but the adaptation is so bad that you would prob-
ably need a circulator at the input of the detector to remove
the reflected power. However there are some practical ques-
tions which has not been taken into account in table 1. Mi-
crostrip is the best technology to build sophisticated and cost
effective circuits, so presented detector designs are ideal to
integrate in complex modules in a really easy way. In addi-
tion, most microstrip diode detectors need to be polarized,
while the diodes used in the presented designs don’t. This
makes the construction of the detector even easier.
Main questions to build a detector able to work at mil-
limeter wave frequencies are treated in this article. First,
characteristics and models for the diodes are discussed.
Later, a matching network at the input of the diode must be
designed, with different strategies depending on if the de-
tector works in narrow band, wide band or ultrawide band.
After that, two technological aspects are analyzed: how to
build RF grounds and 50 Ω loads in millimeter wave fre-
quencies. Finally, the results obtained from the measure-
ments of the designed detectors are presented.
2. Diodes
The main component of a detector is the diode. When
the high frequency signal comes to the diode, it generates the
desired low pass signal proportional to the envelope of the
original one, and a lot of harmonics too. As a key element,
the diode should be chosen carefully. The figure of merit
you should look at to know if a diode is capable of work-
ing at a certain frequency is the cutoff frequency, which is
defined as in the next equation
1 to design an impedance matching network to adapt the
fc0 = (1)
2 · π · Rs · Cj0
where Rs and Cj0 are elements of the diode small sig-
nal equivalent circuit (figure 1) [2], [4].
As a design criterion, the cutoff frequency should be
greater than five times the working frequency. The HSCH-
9161 diode has a cutoff frequency higher than 200 GHz, so
it’s suitable to work at millimeter wave frequencies.
Fig. 1: Equivalent Circuit of a Schottky diode
In the circuit of figure 1 the capacitance of the deple-
tion region is modelled with Cj , while Rj is modelling the
current which flows through the union. Rs represents the
losses due to ohmic and Schottky contact and Ls and Cp
model the parasitic effect of the encapsulation. The values
of the elements of the circuit can be extracted from measure-
ments in strong direct and inverse polarization conditions
[4]. Table 2 shows the Cj and Rj values for different bias
points [2] (other parameters remain constant):
Parameter -4 V Zero Bias +0.1 V +0.5 V
Rj (Ω) 440 3000 277 34
Cj (pF ) 0.019 0.035 0.027 0.034
Tab. 2: Circuit Parameter values
In the detector designed in this article, Agilent HSCH-
9161 diode works in Zero Bias polarization. Diodes with
zero bias simplify the circuit, avoiding polarization net-
works. That’s an interesting advantage, specially at millime-
ter wave circuits where simplicity is a key point.
3. Input Matching Network
As it could be seen in the equivalent circuit presented
in the previous section, the impedance at the input of the
diode can reach values of several kΩ, quite far from the typi-
cal 50 Ω employed in microwave circuits. To get most power
come into the diode, improving sensibility and reducing re-
flection, a matching network is necessary. The impedance
also suffers intense frequency variations, so matching net-
work designing is strongly dominated by the operation band-
width.
If only narrow band operation is desired, it’s easy
impedance of the diode to 50 Ω in that band. A section of
transmission line and a stub are usually enough to reach the
target [1], [6]. In the working band it is possible to get good
adaptation and high sensibility.
On the contrary, if the detector must have wide band
operation, the design of the matching network becomes
more and more difficult as the bandwidth gets wider. It is
possible to get quite good adaptation but it requires complex
circuits [1], [6]. The solution is usually a trade-off in which
adaptation and complexity are both acceptable.
In the limit of wide band circuits are ultrawide band
ones. These circuits, frequently used in warfare applica-
tions, need bandwidths of more than 50 %, which are re-
ally difficult to get with a network without losses. The more
common solution in these cases is to place a 50 Ω load par-
allel to the diode [6].
Fig. 2: Detector with 50 Ω parallel load
However, using a shunt 50 Ω resistor has an important
drawback: a great part of the power that comes to the detec-
tor dissipates on the load instead of coming into the diode,
reducing sensibility. If this is a critical aspect of the concrete
application, it’s better to accept poor adaptation eliminating
the matching network.
The two detectors presented in this article work in ul-
trabroad band range, from some megahertz to 40 GHz. One
has a shunt 50 Ω load and other hasn’t any matching net-
work at all. Despite using ultrawide band techniques already
shown before, the detector must be carefully designed in or-
der to get flat sensibility and adaptation behavior from low
frequencies to 40 GHz.
4. Technological Aspects
4.1 Ultrawide Band Ground
An important technological difficulty comes from the
requirement of having a ground or a very low impedance at
the output of the diode, in a very wide bandwidth. At the end
of the diode there must be a capacitor to separate the desired
low frequency signal from the harmonic tones generated in
the diode. The high frequency must see a low impedance.
But the truth is that there is a section of microstrip line, a
capacity and an inductance, like in figure 3.
 Fig. 3: High frequency equivalent circuit of the RF
ground

The short length transmission line is necessary to sol- Fig. 4: 50 Ω load scheme
der the contact of the diode and the capacitor, giving some
space for the excess of epoxi. After that, there is a capac-
itor and later, the ground plane is reached through a via 5. Designed detectors
hole. The via hole has some parasitic effects, which can
be modelled as an inductance. As a result, there isn’t a low Keeping in mind the considerations of the last sections
impedance at the output of the diode at all high frequencies. two ultrawide band detectors were designed, with successful
response up to 40 GHz:
The value of the capacitance should be chosen high
enough to present a low impedance from low frequencies.
Millimeter-wave capacitors of 30 or 82 pF are acceptable. 5.1 Non adapted detector
On the other hand, the inductance of the via hole A non adapted detector was designed and built, as can
should be very low to keep the impedance on low values be seen on figure 5.
even at 40 GHz. To do this, the substrate must be very thin,
as usually high frequency substrates are.
Keeping these tips on mind, the effect of the capac-
itance and the parasitic inductance can be negligible. On
the contrary, the length of the transmission line can be a
more important problem. Assuming that the capacitor and
the via hole behave as a perfect short circuit to ground, the
impedance at the end of the diode is given by equation 2.

Zin = jZ0 · tan βl (2)

If the minimum length of the line to solder the compo-

nents is long enough to present a high impedance at some
frequency (λ/4 length is only some hundreds of microns),
the detector can’t work properly at such frequencies. So, a
better topology is required to keep the impedance to ground
low at all frequencies. Reducing the impedance of the line
and using more than one capacitor and via hole are good
ideas. In the design presented in the next section, new kinds
of high frequency grounds, with three capacitors and three
via holes in a cross topology where used (figures 5 and 6).
The flatness of the response was much better than when con-
ventional topologies were used.
Fig. 5: Non adapted detector
The substrate was Duroid with εr = 2.2 and 0.127 mm
thick. To get a good short circuit to ground it uses two 82 pF
and one 32 pF Dilabs capacitors placed on a cross topology.
The desired low frequency signal is carried out through a
coil soldered to a corner of the square. The HSCH-9161
diode was not polarized. In fact, the coil at the input of the
diode can be eliminated.

4.2 Ultrawide Band 50 Ω Load 5.2 Adapted detector

Ultrawide band adapted designs need a 50 Ω load with
a constant impedance value in all the bandwidth. Typi-
cal thin film resistors followed by a via hole modify their
impedance at very high frequency. For that reason, in the
presented adapted detector, the 50 Ω load has been imple-
mented with three resistors, placed in a T attenuator, as can
be seen on figure 4. Electromagnetic simulations and mea-
surements demonstrate this topology gets better adaptation
than one resistor configurations.
An adapted detector was also manufactured and mea-
sured. In this case a 50 Ω load is required in order to improve
the adaptation. We couldn’t make printed resistors on plastic
substrates, so a 10 mils alumina substrate was chosen. Two
82 pF and one 30 pF capacitors were used to make the RF
ground as in the previous design. The 50 Ω load was imple-
mented with three printed resistors in a T attenuator, as was
discussed on section 4. Adapted design can be seen in figure
6.
 Fig. 6: Adapted detector
6. Measurements
Both designs sensibilities were measured for an input
power of -10 dBm. Figure 7 shows the results of these mea-
surements. The non adapted detector has a sensibility of
around 1 V/mW with quite flat response up to 39 GHz, while
in the adapted case it’s only about 0.4 V/mW. This difference
is the consequence of the power which dissipates in the load
of the adapted design. The variable impedance of the load
with the frequency also makes the sensibility more unstable.
However, as it was expected, non adapted design
presents very poor adaptation (figure 8) and this could be
a big problem depending on the applications. A circulator
at the input of the detector may be required if the previ-
ous stage doesn’t allow reflected power. On the contrary,
adapted design keeps |S11 | under -10 dB in nearly all band-
width paying the price of a lower sensibility.
7. Conclusion
Two millimeter-wave detectors have been designed,
Fig. 7: Detected voltage vs frequency
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Fig. 8: |S11 | of the adapted and non adapted detectors
manufactured with microstrip technology and measured.
The main problems of working with high frequencies and
very wide bandwidths have been overcome. Presented de-
signs can be useful for a lot of applications due to the sim-
plicity and the low price of the circuits.
Acknowledgement
This project has been accomplished thanks to the fi-
nancing of the project P050935-556 of Indra Sistemas S.A.
and the project TEC2005-07010-C02-01 of the Science and
Technology Ministry of Spain.
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