A 500 GHz transceiver front end based on planar Schottky diode

In this paper, a low-cost 500 GHz solid state transceiver front end is presented. The transmitter and receiver links are constructed by multiple separate modules. Transmitter adopts frequency multiplying amplification scheme. A 500 GHz tripler based on GaAs Schottky diode (SBD) serve as the last stage of the transmitter. Considering high frequency parasitic effects, an accurate three-dimensional electromagnetic model was developed to characterize the complex characteristics of diode. The measured results show that when the output frequency is 480–510 GHz, the output power is 0.15-0.4mW. The core of the receiver is a 500 GHz subharmonic mixer (SHM) based on Schottky diode, which downconverts RF signal to IF below 20 GHz. An IF low noise amplifier(LNA) is needed to increase output power. Designed 250 GHz local oscillator circuit is applied to drive the SHM. Measured results show that fixed RF input power -10 dBm, in the 480–510 GHz range, the intermediate frequency output power is -10-0 dBm, the receiving gain is 0–10 dB.