Abstract. A novel symmetrical microwave power sensor based on GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) technology is presented in this paper. In this power sensor, the left section inputs the microwave power, while the right section inputs the dc power. Because of the symmetrical structure, this power sensor is created to provide more accurate microwave power measurement capability without mismatch uncertainty and restrain temperature drift. The loss model is built and the loss voltage is 0.8 mV at 20 GHz when the input power is 100 mW. This power sensor is designed and fabricated using GaAs MMIC technology. And it is measured in the frequency range up to 20 GHz with the input power in the −20 dBm to 19 dBm range. Over the 19 dBm dynamic range, the sensitivity can achieve about 0.2 mV mW⁻¹. The difference between the input powers in the two sections is below 0.1% for equal output voltages. For an amplitude modulation measurement, the carrier frequency is the main factor to influence the measurement results. In short, the key aspect of this power sensor is that the microwave power measurement can be replaced by a dc power measurement with precise wideband.

Print publication: Issue 12 (December 2009)
Received 15 June 2009, in final form 23 September 2009
Published 22 October 2009