Notch-front diodes for millimetre-wave integrated circuits

A new diode chip is described which has lower parasitics and a smaller series resistance than conventional millimetre-wave diodes. A subharmonically pumped mixer built with a pair of these notch-front diodes has shown a single sideband mixer noise figure of 5 dB and a mixer noise temperature of 400 K at a signal frequency of 95 GHz.