X-band high power GaN SPDT MMIC RF switches

Abstract

This paper describes the design results and measured performance of three different high power, low loss and high isolation GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) based single-pole double-throw (SPDT) RF switches. Three different topologies were employed to design the proposed switches. The SPDT MMIC switches were developed with coplanar waveguide (CPW) GaN-HEMT technology to operate in X-Band. The measured performance showed that the switches have typical insertion loss of better than 2 dB, higher than 30 dB isolation with better than 10 dB return losses.