VCO/RADIATOR MODULE TUNED BY FERROELECTRIC VARACTOR

• Published in: Integrated ferroelectrics Vol. 97; no. 1; pp. 38 - 49
• Main Authors: Kozyrev, A. B., Buslov, O. Yu, Golovkov, A. A., Keis, V. N., Krasilnikov, S. V., Samoilova, T. B., Shimko, A. Yu, Ginley, D., Kaydanova, T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 01.01.2008
• Subjects: Active antenna; ferroelectric varactor; planar dielectric resonator; tunable oscillator; VCO
• ISSN: 1058-4587; 1607-8489
• DOI: 10.1080/10584580802086557

Design of tunable Gunn diode-based active antenna module including a new type of planar dielectric resonator (PDR) tuned by a ferroelectric (FE) varactor is presented. The module is designed in such a way that the PDR acts both as a stabilizing resonator and as a radiator. MW properties of FE elements used for VCO tuning are considered. The module operates at frequency around of 17 GHz and demonstrates the radiated power of 8.8 ± 0.1 dBm over the 130 MHz tuning range and a phase-noise level of −95 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz offset. 65° width of the radiation pattern in both the E and H planes corresponding to a gain of 5.1 dBi was measured. The maximal VCO power limited by the dielectric nonlinearity of a FE film in the microwave electric field and by the FE film overheating is estimated for FE film-based varactors of the planar and parallel structures.