VIRGINIA DIODES, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: HR0011SB20224-12

Description

The goal of this project is to develop the technology needed for on-wafer characterization of new MMICs and amplifiers across the 110 – 300 GHz frequency range.  This goal requires successful completion of the proposed Phase II effort as well as follow-on research and development to develop commercial systems and further extend the frequency range. The specific goals of this Direct to Phase II (DP2) proposal are i) the development of the high VSWR mechanical tuners which are critical for noise and load-pull measurements in this frequency range, and ii) the demonstration of an on-wafer noise characterization system at 220 GHz to be delivered to a government laboratory for initial evaluation and to support of the DARPA ELGAR program. The proposers for this effort are Maury Microwave Corporation (Maury) and Virginia Diodes, Inc. (VDI), with each conducting roughly half of the R&D. The focus of Maury’s Phase II effort is the development and demonstration of the higher frequency mechanical tuners and the implementation of the prototype 220 GHz system. Maury is an established leader in microwave measurement systems, with particular expertise in the development of advanced microwave tuners. Through their previous work, Maury has demonstrated the 110 GHz tuner performance required for DP2 consideration, as described in the solicitation topic. The feasibility of extending this previous work to at least 300 GHz is presented in this proposal. VDI’s Phase II work will emphasize the advancement of other critical subsystems for noise characterization, specifically the VNA frequency extenders, noise sources and frequency down-converters. One of the primary challenges of extending measurement capabilities to higher frequencies is the increased losses of passive elements such as the mechanical tuners and on-wafer probes. Through the improvement of each of the subsystems, VDI will alleviate the impact of the increased losses. Specifically, VDI will increase the power available from the VNA extenders and noise sources, while also improving the sensitivity of the down-conversion receivers. This effort is critical to ensure that the resulting measurement systems have sufficient performance to meet DARPA’s needs as well as to achieve commercial success.