Thesis (M. App. Sc.)--Carleton University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-92). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Carleton University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 156-176). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.E.C.E.)--Baylor University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-58).

Thesis (Ph.D.). / Written for the Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2009/06/10). Includes bibliographical references.

In this dissertation, some multi-function and flexible RF/microwave devices have been studied to solve the issues in the modern microwave system designs. First, a power divider with two functions is proposed. The first function is a zero-phase delay power divider using zero-phase impedance transformer. The second function is a power divider with impedance transforming property. To achieve the first function, the two arms are treated as zero-phase impedance transformers. When the phase requirement is relaxed, the second function is obtained. Shunt transmission line stubs are employed to connect the isolation resistor, which provides great flexibility in the design. Then, a balun with transparent termination impedance and flexible open arms is designed. The design parameters of the balun are independent to the port impedance. This property allows the balun to work with different system impedances. Furthermore, the two output ports of the balun do not need to be connected together, which enables the device to have a very flexible structure. Finally, the continuous research of a tunable/reconfigurable coupler with equal output impedance is presented. In addition to the tunable/reconfigurable responses, unequal output impedance property is added to the microstrip line coupler. To shrink the size at the low frequency and make it easy for fabrication at higher frequency, the coupler is redesigned using lumped components. To validate the design theories, simulations are carried out. Moreover, prototypes of the power divider and the balun are fabricated and characterized. The simulation and measurement results match well with the theoretical calculation.

The development of the High Frequency Power MOSFET has brought about a need for accurate models. Now that the frequency range of these MOSFETs is in domains where typically scattering parameter measurements are used, a broad band device model can prove to be extremely useful. This thesis summarizes the research performed towards the development of a wideband Gate model for the Motorola MRF162 High Frequency Power Transistor. The device theory for typical MOSFETs will be explained. This theory will lead into the development of the Power MOSFET and its associated frequency limitations. The benefits of Time Domain Techniques will be explained and how a wideband model is achieved from this technique. The result from the analysis of the measurements and the device theory is a wideband Gate model developed for the frequency range from 100MHz to 400MHz. Verification is achieved by curve matching the measured Time Domain Reflected waveforms with the simulated waveforms generated using a proprietary program Modified Transient Analysis Program (MTCAP) and by comparison of expected and simulated parasitic values. / Master of Science

Thesis (PhD (Electric and Electronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / A tunable X-band PIN diode switch, implemented in evanescent mode waveguide, is presented. To allow in-situ tuning of resonances after construction, a novel PIN diode mounting structure is proposed and verified, offering substantial advantages in assembly costs. Accurate and time-effective modelling of filter and limiter states of the proposed switch is possible, using an evanescent mode PIN diode and mount model. The model is developed by optimizing an AWR Microwave Office model of a first order switch prototype with embedded PIN diode, to simultaneously fit filter and limiter measurements of four first order prototypes. The model is then used in the design of a third order switch prototype, achieving isolation of 62 dB over a 8.5 to 10.5 GHz bandwidth in the limiting state, as well as reflection of 15.73 dB and insertion loss of 1.23±0.155 dB in the filtering state over the same bandwidth.

Il existe actuellement un important besoin en dispositifs électroniques dans le domaine des longueurs d’ondes millimétriques, tels que les circulateurs et les isolateurs fonctionnant dans la gamme de fréquence 30-100 GHz. Les aimants permanents qui garantissent la propagation de l’onde électromagnétique dans ces dispositifs comportent très généralement des éléments terres rares. En raison du coût à l’acquisition de ces éléments, d’une part, ainsi que de leur coût environnemental d’autre part, il existe une demande d’aimants permanents produits sans terres rares. Les ferrites durs peuvent présenter les propriétés demandées pour une intégration dans les dipositifs micoondes non réciproques. Ainsi, les particules de ferrite de baryum (BaM) possèdent un champ d’anisotropie magnétocristallin important, dirigé selon l’axe de facile aimantation. Un matériau autopolarisé, constitué d’un empilement de ces particules, peut donc présenter une aimantation permanente d’intensité suffisante pour les applications visées. De nombreuses méthodes d’élaboration de tels matériaux ont été mises au point. Cependant les mises en oeuvre de ces méthodes sont contraignantes. En revanche, nous avons mis au point dans le présent travail un processus de réalisation de ferrites de BaM massifs autopolarisés, dont l’aspect technologique est simple (basé sur des méthodes de chimie douce et des traitements thermiques adaptés), et très abordable financièrement. Les résultats obtenus sont très compétitifs (aimantation rémanente normalisée MR/MS comprise entre 0.87 et 0.90. Le champ coercitif HC atteint la valeur de 303 kA/m, rendant le matériau peu sensible aux effets démagnétisants), et permettent d’envisager la production de ces matériaux en vue d’applications à des fréquences allant jusqu’à 55 GHz. / Presently, there is a critical need for millimeter wave devices, among which are non-reciprocal devices such as isolators and circulators, which operate in the frequency range from about 30 GHz to 100 GHz.Permanent magnets that ensure the propagation of the wave in such devices are for long based on rare-earth elements. Nowadays, the escalation of rare earths cost encourages to look for alternative materials containing much less, or no, rare earth elements selected from the most common and most available. Alternatively, hard ferrites may show the required potential for integration into non-reciprocal microwave devices. Barium ferrite (BaM) is a wellknown, high-performance, permanent magnet material with a large magneto-crystalline anisotropy along the c-axis of its hexagonal structure. A suitable form of barium ferrite for mm-wave applications is a magnetically oriented bulk material.Several constraining processing techniques were therefore set up to perform the alignment and compaction of plate hexaferrite particles. In contrast to these methods, the present study demonstrates the feasibility of simple alternative ways to provide highly oriented bulk compacts made of BaM particles. In the present work efficient and inexpensive chemical processes (co-precipitation, dry mixing and wet mixing) are presented that produces highly oriented bulk compacts made of Barium hexaferrites (BaM) particles. Hysteresis loops that display very competitive squarenesses between 0.87 and 0.90 (normalized remanent magnetization) and coercivity as high as 303 kA/m are obtained. The sensitivity to demagnetizing effects is therfore reduced. These properties make these BaM bulk ferrite materials suitable for selfbiased applications at frequencies up to 55 GHz.

The objective of this dissertation is to develop key components of a CMOS heterodyne millimeter-wave receiver front end. Robust designs are necessary to overcome PVT variations as well as modeling inaccuracies, while with minimum power consumption overhead to facilitate low-power radio for portable applications. Heterodyne receiver topology is adopted because of its robust performances at millimeter-wave frequencies. Device models for both passive and active devices are developed and used in the circuit designs in this dissertation. Two low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) are developed in this dissertation. The first LNA features a proposed temperature-compensation biasing technique, which confines the gain variation within 5 dB for temperature variation from -5 to 85 Celsius degree. The measured gain and NF are 21 and 6.5 dB, respectively, for 49-mW power dissipation. The second LNA reveals a design technique to tolerate a low-accuracy model at millimeter-wave frequencies. Both LNAs provide full coverage of the FCC 60-GHz band (57-64 GHz). For the frequency generation circuits, both the IF QVCO and mm-wave VCO are investigated. The inherent bimodal oscillation of QVCOs is analyzed and, for the first time, a systematic measurement technique is proposed to intentionally control the oscillation mode. This technique is further utilized to extend the tuning range of the QVCO, which possesses dual tuning curves without penalty on phase noise. The measurement results of a 13-GHz QVCO in 90-nm CMOS reveals a 21.4% tuning range for continuously tuning from 11.7 to 14.5 GHz. The measured phase noise is -108 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset with a core power consumption of 10.8 mW. A millimeter-wave VCO is designed and fabricated in 65-nm CMOS. The VCO is fully characterized under voltage stress to examine the hot-carrier injection effects affecting the performance of a millimeter-wave VCO. The 41.6-47.4 GHz VCO is further integrated into a millimeter-wave down converter. The power-hungry buffer amplifiers are neglected by proper floor planning. Conversion loss of 1.4 dB is obtained with total power consumption of 72.5 mW. Lastly, a power management system consisting of low-dropout (LDO) regulators is designed and integrated in a 90-nm CMOS millimeter-wave transceiver to provide stable and low-noise supply voltages. Voltage variation issues are alleviated by the LDOs.

This dissertation deals with the development of RF MEMS switches with novel materials and micromachining techniques for the RF and microwave applications. To enable the integration of RF and microwave components on CMOS grade silicon, finite ground coplanar waveguide transmission line on CMOS grade silicon wafer were first studied using micromachining techniques. In addition, several RF MEMS capacitive switches were developed with novel materials. A novel approach for fabricating low cost capacitive RF MEMS switches using directly photo-definable high dielectric constant metal oxides was developed, these switches exhibited significantly higher isolation and load capacitances as compared to comparable switches fabricated using a simple silicon nitride dielectric. The second RF MEMS switch developed is on a low cost, flexible liquid crystal polymer (LCP) substrate. Its very low water absorption (0.04%), low dielectric loss and multi-layer circuit capability make it very appealing for RF Systems-On-a-Package (SOP). Also, a tunable RF MEMS switch on a sapphire substrate with BST as dielectric material was developed, the BST has a very high dielectric constant (>300) making it very appealing for RF MEMS capacitive switches. The tunable dielectric constant of BST provides a possibility of making linearly tunable MEMS capacitor-switches. For the first time a capacitive tunable RF MEMS switch with a BST dielectric and its characterization and properties up to 40 GHz was presented. Dielectric charging is the main reliability issue for MEMS switch, temperature study of dielectric polarization effect of RF MEMS was investigated in this dissertation. Finally, integration of two reconfigurable RF circuits with RF MEMS switches were discussed, the first one is a reconfigurable dual frequency (14GHz and 35 GHz) antenna with double polarization using RF MEMS switches on a multi-layer LCP substrate; and the second one is a center frequency and bandwidth tunable filter with BST capacitors and RF MEMS switches on sapphire substrate.