HIGH POWER RF SWITCH

PRESENTLY HIGH-POWER RADIO-FREQUENCY SWITCH DEVICES ARE CONSTRUCTED USING PACKAGED PIN DIODES. DUE TO THE HIGH THERMAL RESISTIVITY OF THESE DIODES, SWITCHING AT HIGH CW POWER LEVELS IS DIFFICULT. FURTHERMORE THE DRIVER CIRCUIT REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF THESE DEVICES ARE HIGH, RESULTING IN REDUCED SWITCHING SPEED AND BANDWIDTH, AS WELL AS INCREASED VOLUME, WEIGHT, AND COST. IN THIS PROPOSAL AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH, BASED ON GALLIUM ARSENIDE MONOLITHIC FET TECHNOLOGY, IS PRESENTED. THESE DEVICES ARE EXAMINED IN TERMS OF THEIR POWER HANDLING CAPABILITIES TO MEET THE DESIRED REQUIREMENTS. THIS PROPOSAL CONTAINS THE BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE TECHNICAL APPROACH FOR THE DESIGN OF SUCH GAAS FET-BASED SWITCHES. IT IS SHOWN THAT THESE COMPONENTS CAN MEET OR EXCEED ALL THE PERFORMANCE GOALS FOR VOLUME, WEIGHT, SPEED, INTEGRATION CAPABILITY, BANDWIDTH, AND SIMPLIFIED DRIVER REQUIREMENTS.