Custom MMIC Announces New GaAs MMIC Mixers

Custom MMIC has announced three new GaAs MMIC mixers for C-band, X-band, K-band, and Ka-band applications. The CMD251C3 fundamental mixer, CMD252C4 I/Q mixer, and CMD180 fundamental mixer are said to deliver best-in-class isolation and conversion loss performance while offering low input power requirements.

The mixers are designed to help increase dynamic range while reducing LO power and subsequent filtering requirements. They are suitable for high-performance commercial, military, aerospace, and satcom applications.

The CMD251C3 is a general purpose, fundamental double-balanced MMIC mixer in a 3×3 mm leadless surface mount package that can be used for up- and down-converting applications between 4 and 8.5 GHz (C-band).

This fundamental mixer exhibits high LO to RF and LO to IF isolation of 36 dB due to optimised balun structures, and can operate with an LO drive level as low as +15 dBm. This GaAs mixer also demonstrates a wide IF bandwidth of DC to 2.2 GHz and a very low conversion loss of only 7 dB.

The CMD252C4 is a 4 GHz to 8 GHz (C-band) compact I/Q MMIC mixer in a 4×4 leadless surface mount package. This fundamental mixer is comprised of two double-balanced mixer cells and a 90 degree hybrid. An external IF hybrid is needed to complete the image rejection of 30 dB, but this combination is a much smaller alternative to higher cost hybrid image reject mixers and single-sideband upconverter assemblies.

The CMD252C4 also features a wide IF bandwidth of DC to 2.4 GHz with a low IRM conversion loss of only 6.5 dB.

The CMD180 is a general purpose, fundamental double-balanced MMIC mixer available in a small die size. This GaAs MMIC can be used for wideband up- and down-converting applications between 20 and 32 GHz (X-band, K-band, Ka-band). It features very high isolation to both the RF and IF ports of 36 dB, also due to optimized balun structures, and can operate with an LO drive level as low as +9 dBm. The CMD180 provides a wide IF bandwidth between DC and 10 GHz, and presents a low conversion loss of only 7 dB.