V-band IMPATT transmitter

A V-band transmitter for communication application was developed that has 30 dB gain and consists of six stages of IMPATT amplifiers. The low and medium power stages are stable amplifiers while the two high power stages are triggered oscillators. Hybrid couplers in the form of Magic Tees were used for power combining two single diode IMPATT modules in the high driver stage and for a single diode IMPATT modules at the output stage. Output power of 4 watts CW across a 2.5 GHz band centered at 60 GHz was achieved with an input power of 4 mW. Dynamic range of the amplifier chain is in excess of 7 dB. A single diode one watt stable amplifier over a bandwidth greater than 2.5 GHz, a high power ( 1 watt) stable amplifier capable of operating in either the constant current or constant voltage mode and verification of the advantages of the latter mode of operation; and a 10 channel modulator with built in test equipment (specifically protective circuitry, failure monitoring, and mode of failure indicated) were also developed. The performance requirements of circulators/isolators for reflection amplifiers were also defined and verified.