Low voltage, high power T/R switch MMIC using LC resonators

A T/R (transmit/receive) MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuit) switch for high-power/low-distortion operation at low control voltage is proposed. LC-resonant switches composed of inductors, capacitors, and switching FETs are incorporated in the TX and RX arms to provide a reverse control scheme which removes the RF voltage limitation in the transmit mode. An LC-resonant T/R switch with total periphery of 2.88 mm exhibits third IMR less than -40 dB for input power up to 28 dBm when controlled at 0 V/2 V.<<ETX>>