Fig 3 Measure performance of the SPST switch. (a) Compare with simulation results, measured and de-embedded insertion loss and isolation from 210 GHz to 230 GHz, (b) Measured insertion loss and isolation versus input power at 220 GHz.
The power measurements of the switches were tested at 220 GHz using an external power source and power meter. Through the external power source’s adjustable attenuation, the input power value is changed. Due to the loss of the quartz probe and the gold wire, the actual power fed into the switch chip is reduced, which is compensated by increasing the external input power. Figure 3(b) plots the processed output power against switch insertion loss and isolation measurements. When the input power reaches 17dBm, the isolation is significantly reduced by 1dB.
Conclusion: This letter provides an example of a high-frequency switch with minimal insertion loss and high isolation that was made using GaAs PIN diodes. To enhance the switch’s functionality, three PIN diodes are connected in parallel on the transmission line. This work’s SPST switch exhibits insertion loss performance of < 3.2 dB, isolation performance of >29 dB from 220 GHz to 230 GHz, and IP1dB performance of 17 dBm at 220 GHz. The switch of this work can be applied to high-power applications such receiving protection systems.
Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China under Contract No. 2021YFB3200100 (Y.Z.) and No. 2018YFB1801503 (Y.Z.) ,and the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Contract No. 61931006 (Y.Z.).
 2022 The Authors. Electronics Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Institution of Engineering and Technology
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Received: xx January 2021 Accepted: xx March 2021
doi: 10.1049/ell2.10001
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