DME3938-257

• Low 1/f noise
• Low intermodulation distortion
• Epoxy and hermetically sealed packages
• SPC controlled wafer fabrication

DME, DMF, DMJ Series: Silicon Beam-Lead Schottky Mixer Diodes-Singles, Pairs and Quads Bondable and Packaged Chips

Skyworks beam-lead silicon Schottky barrier mixer diodes,DME3938-257 are designed for applications through 40 GHz. The beam-lead design reduces the problem of bonding to the very small area characteristic of the low capacitance junctions. Beam-lead Schottky barrier mixer diodes are made by the deposition of a suitable barrier metal on an epitaxial silicon substrate to form the junction. The process and choice of materials result in low series resistance with a narrow spread of capacitance values for close impedance control.

A variety of forward voltages are available, ranging from low values for low, or starved, local oscillator drive levels to high values for high drive, low distortion mixer applications. Beam-lead diodes are available in a wide range of packages. Capacitance ranges and series resistances are comparable with the packaged DME3938-257 devices that are available through K-band. Unpackaged DME3938-257 diodes are well suited for use in microwave integrated circuits. The packaged DME3938-257 devices are designed to be inserted as hybrid elements in strip, transmission line applications.

Beam-lead Schottky barrier diodes are categorized by universal mixer applications in four frequency ranges: S, X, Ku and Ka bands. They may also be used as modulators and high-speed switches.

Beam-lead diodes are suited for balanced mixers, due to their low parasitics and uniformity. A typical VF vs. IF curve is shown in Figure 1. Typical noise figures vs. LO drive is shown in Figure 2 for single N-type, low drive diode types.