Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Selected Works

PIN diode

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Electronic Devices and Semiconductor Manufacturing

Vva Extends Bw And Dynamic Range, Chin-Leong Lim Sep 2011

Vva Extends Bw And Dynamic Range, Chin-Leong Lim

Chin-Leong Lim

Voltage-variable attenuators (VVAs) enable gain adjustment in a wide range of applications, including in cable-television (CATV), satellite-television (SATV) systems, and even test equipment and measurement systems. The PI VVA configuration using PIN diodes is ubiquitous in CATV and SATV systems owing to its low part count, small size, constant impedance, high linearity, and multi-decade bandwidth. Presently, this class of VVAs have been under severe miniaturization pressure in order to shrink end-product size. To create the industry's smallest CATV/SATV-suitable VVA, we integrated all necessary components into a multi-chip-on-board (MCOB) package measuring 3.8 x 3.8 x 1.0 mm (14 mm square footprint). …


Design A Pin Diode Switch For High-Linearity Applications, Chin-Leong Lim Jul 2008

Design A Pin Diode Switch For High-Linearity Applications, Chin-Leong Lim

Chin-Leong Lim

This paper describes the semiconductor technology, packaging and characterization of a new PIN diode for switching WCDMA signal up to 10W. PIN semiconductor technology was picked as the basis for this switch because of the various performance and reliability advantages that can be had. A model for the PIN diode is generated based on the measured RF performance. How the various model parameters affect the RF performance is also discussed. This is followed by an application description of a 2.0 GHz switch based on the said model and a discussion of some circuit changes to further improve the performance. The …


Rf Applications Of Pin Diodes, Chin-Leong Lim Jun 2008

Rf Applications Of Pin Diodes, Chin-Leong Lim

Chin-Leong Lim

PIN diodes are the ubiquitous "nuts & screws" components that hold together RF equipment as varied as the television, radio, 2-way radios, WLAN equipment etc. This talk covers PIN diode characteristics and RF applications such as switches, attenuators and limiters. Performance improvement techniques will also be discussed.


Cut Loss In Low-Voltage, Wideband Pin Attenuators, Chin-Leong Lim Mar 2008

Cut Loss In Low-Voltage, Wideband Pin Attenuators, Chin-Leong Lim

Chin-Leong Lim

Many RF applications, including Cable and Satellite TV (CATV / SATV) networks, rely on voltage-variable attenuators (VVAs) for gain adjustment. VVAs consisting of PIN diodes arranged as a PI network are popular in CATV / SATV service owing to their constant impedance, high linearity, multi-decade bandwidth, low part count and compactness. When fabricated from thick bulk PIN diodes for high linearity, the PI VVA configuration typically requires a 0-15V control range. But modern equipment typically operates at 5V or less. Capping the control voltage at 5V adversely raises the VVA's minimum attenuation. To enable low voltage operation without degrading the …


Tackle Wideband Rf Switching With Pin Diodes, Chin-Leong Lim Jan 2007

Tackle Wideband Rf Switching With Pin Diodes, Chin-Leong Lim

Chin-Leong Lim

PIN diodes make cheaper, faster and more reliable RF switches than the mechanical competition. The two methods of constructing PIN diodes, bulk and epitaxial, result in significantly different bias current, linearity and lower frequency limit. This paper compares the wideband series switching performances of a bulk PIN diode (w = 22.5 um, Tau = 300 ns) and an epitaxial diode (w = 6.5 um, Tau = 180 ns) in similar low-cost, miniature SOD-323 packages. Through simulation and experiment, we detected significant differences in insertion loss, isolation, and third-order intercept (IP3) performances between the two diode types. In conclusion, the design …


Diode Quad Is Foundation For Pin Diode Attenuator, Chin-Leong Lim Apr 2006

Diode Quad Is Foundation For Pin Diode Attenuator, Chin-Leong Lim

Chin-Leong Lim

Voltage-variable attenuators (VVAs) enable gain adjustment in a wide range of applications, including in cable-television (CATV), satellite-television (SATV) systems, and even test equipment and measurement systems. The PI VVA configuration using PIN diodes is ubiquitous in CATV and SATV systems owing to its low part count, small size, constant impedance, high linearity, and multi-decade bandwidth. Presently, there is a great pressure to miniaturize this VVA in order to shrink end-product size. To miniaturize this class of VVAs, we integrated four diodes into a five-pin, leadfree SOT-25 surface mount package. This paper describes the prototype VVA's design, fabrication and experimental results. …