A Ka-Band GaN 2x4 MMIC Switch for compact and scalable Switch Matrices

This paper describes the design and experimental results of a DP4T MMIC switch to be used as a building block for high-order compact and scalable Ka-band Switch Matrices. Two variants of the MMIC have been designed and optimized to be used in bare-die form, within hermetic complex modules, and in QFN plastic package solution, to be assembled in PCB based architectures. Both chips are manufactured on a European 0.15 mu m GaN/SiC HEMT technology for a total die area of 4x4 mm(2). Good equalized insertion losses of about 2.5 and 3.5 dB, for bare-die and packaged variants respectively, were measured along all possible active paths. A minimum isolation level of 30 dB and a return loss better than 15 dB at all the RF ports were achieved for both circuits. The MMICs are fully compliant with the space deratings.