Linear and nonlinear stability analysis of MMICs

Stability analysis of MMICs becomes a preoccupation of engineers for the design of power amplifiers as well as of oscillators. In this paper it is shown that the classical approach of linear stability analysis fails in the case of unstable unloaded circuits. Nyquist based methods are proposed to circumvent this problem. A method relying on the general Harmonic Balance formulation is proposed, which enables the linear and non linear stability analysis. Examples of global stability analysis based on the resolution of the bifurcation equations are given. Finally an open loop method is proposed which allows to design analog frequency dividers with the aid of standard CAD packages.