A Review of Millimetre Wave Devices
ROYAL SIGNALS AND RADAR ESTABLISHMENT MALVERN (UNITED KINGDOM)
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A review is given of recent improvements in the performance of power sources in the millimetre band, 30-300 GHz, corresponding to free space wavelengths from 1 cm down to 1 mm. Vacuum tube devices of interest include the magnetron, the TWT, the carcinotron or backward wave oscillator, the gyrotron or cyclotron resonance maser, and the recently discovered orbitron, which was demonstrated using an empty aluminium beer-can. Solid state sources have continued to make progress upwards in both frequency and power. Transferred electron devices using InP have produced 126 mW at 90 GHz, a level suitable for local oscillator applications, while Si impatts have demonstrated peak power of 13W at 94 GHz with 8 efficiency. The tunnett diode, a variation of the impatt in which tunnelling replaces avalanching, has shown useful power above 300 GHz.
- Electrical and Electronic Equipment
- Electricity and Magnetism