Highly Integrated Switching Calibration Front-End MMIC with Active Loads for W-Band Radiometers

A millimeter-wave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) consisting of a W-band (75 - 100 GHz) single-pole-five-throw (SP5T) switch and multiple internal active and passive loads for radiometer calibration was designed and manufactured in a low noise 50 nm GaAs mHEMT technology. This highly compact and integrated front-end device for radiometer systems is capable of fast ultra-fast switching between two identical input ports (e.g. for polarimetric applications) and three internal calibration references. It allows an accurate multi-load calibration with noise temperatures between 220 K and 1750 K at the output of the device. Compared to conventional calibration methods this marks a substantial advantage in terms of size, mass, power consumption, complexity and repetition rate.