Cryogenic Ka-band 180° phase switch based on schottky diodes

Abstract

A Ka-band hybrid 0/180 ° phase switch working at cryogenic temperature is presented. The circuit is designed on an alumina substrate using uniplanar hybrid technology, combining air-bridged coplanar waveguides and slotlines. Schottky diodes are used as switching elements, taking advantage of their cryogenic behavior, with low equivalent series resistance and low capacitance. Cryogenic performance at 15 K shows a phase difference response of 177 ±2 ° , average insertion losses of 1 dB and amplitude imbalance of less than 0.2 dB between states in the frequency range from 24 to 37 GHz (40% relative bandwidth) with a low-power consumption of 10.5 mW. The low insertion loss and small phase error make the designed phase switch suitable to be used on radioastronomy receivers (QUIJOTE experiment 26-36 GHz band) minimizing the total system noise temperature.