All-NbN edge junction nanobridges have been reproducibly fabricated. They had nearly ideal characteristics: sharply defined critical current, high resistance100Ω, sharp gap structure at about 4 mV, large IoRn products, and low excess current. The sharp LC resonance step at about 1.5 mV was observed in the nanobridge SQUID's. The noise equivalent power was NEP10-19 W/Hz in Josephson mixing at 101 GHz.

E-band low-noise amplifier (LNA) monolithic millimeter-wave integrated circuits (MMICs) were developed using pseudomorphic In0.75Ga0.25As/In0.52Al0.48As high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with a gate length of 50 nm. The nanogate HEMTs demonstrated a maximum oscillation frequency (fmax) of 550 GHz and a current-gain cutoff frequency (fT) of 450 GHz at room temperature, which is first experimental demonstration that fmax as high as 550 GHz are achievable with the improved one-step-recessed gate procedure. Furthermore, using a three-stage LNA-MMIC with 50-nm-gate InGaAs/InAlAs HEMTs, we achieved a minimum noise figure of 2.3 dB with an associated gain of 20.6 dB at 79 GHz.

We fabricated 50-nm-gate InAlAs/InGaAs high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) lattice-matched to InP substrates by using a conventional process under low temperatures, below 300C, to prevent fluorine contamination and suppress possible diffusion of the Si-δ-doped sheet in the electron-supply layer, and measured the DC and RF performance of the transistors. The DC measurement showed that the maximum transconductance gm of a 50-nm-gate HEMT is about 0.91 S/mm. The cutoff frequency fT of our 50-nm-gate HEMT is 362 GHz, which is much higher than the values reported for previous 50-nm-gate lattice-matched HEMTs. The excellent RF performance of our HEMTs results from a shortening of the lateral extended range of charge control by the drain field, and this may have been achieved because the low-temperature fabrication process suppressed degradation of epitaxial structure.

This paper shows activities of the ultra wideband (UWB) research and development consortium organized by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT). Fully CMOS monolithic microwave integrate circuits (MMICs) are designed and fabricated both for the multiband OFDM and the impulse radio. UWB transceivers are constructed with the MMICs as their front-end devices and evaluated by some measurements such as time domain waveform, spectrum, error vector magnitude, and so on. To show the application capabilities of the UWB transceivers, two kinds of video transmission system are constructed and demonstrated.

The Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) method has been applied to study the scattering characteristics of Fabry-Perot cavities with infinite planar periodic surfaces. Periodic Boundary Conditions (PBC) are used to reduce the analysis to one unit periodic volume. Both dielectric and metallic losses are included in the algorithm using a frequency dependent formalism. This technique is used to study the frequency response of plane parallel Fabry-Perot cavities with square aperture metal mesh mirrors. These cavities are assumed to be illuminated by a normally incident plane wave. After a detailed description of the algorithm, we show theoretically the separate effects of dielectric and metal losses on the transmission coefficient of such cavities. We compare also simulation results to measurements, in the 60 GHz band, of resonant frequencies and Q factors of cavities with various mesh parameters.

Several configurations of millimeter wave Gaussian Beam Antennas (GBAs) are studied in this paper. A GBA is a quasi-planar radiating structure comprising a plano-convex half-wavelength Fabry-Perot (FP) resonator excited by a guided source or by a printed source. Both partially transparent mirrors of the resonator are formed with two-dimensional metal meshes. GBAs have very low side lobes, because of the gaussian distribution of the aperture electric field. They can be efficiently used in Wireless Local Area Networks in the 60 GHz band. After a brief presentation of intrinsic properties of FP cavities illuminated by a plane wave under normal incidence, performances of four passive GBAs are described and compared to theoretical results: the first two configurations concern cavities fed either by a waveguide (GBA#1), or by a pyramidal horn antenna (GBA#2); in the last two ones, the cavities are excited by a linearly polarized microstrip patch antenna (GBA#3), or by a coaxial-probe circularly polarized antenna array (GBA#4). These various examples enable to deduce and to compare typical radiation performances of GBAs, depending on (i) the feeding technique (planar or guided), on (ii) the geometry of the FP resonator (radius of curvature, grid parameters) and on (iii) the polarization (linear or circular). In particular, for a planar primary source, it is shown that the directivity and the efficiency of GBAs are respectively in the range [15.5 dB-23.5 dB] and [20%-50%], if power reflectivities of both mirrors are higher than 96.5% and lower than 99.5%, and if the radius of curvature of the cavity varies between 30λ0 and 1600λ0.

A full confocal Gaussian beam open resonator system that determines the dielectric properties of low-loss materials in the 60-GHz band is developed. To achieve high Q values a quasi-optical coupling method is used to feed the resonator. It is connected to a computer-controlled HP 8510C vector network analyzer for automatic measurement. The frequency variation method is used and the data are processed using the open resonator scalar theory. Results from 96% and 99.5% alumina samples with thicknesses ranging from 0.38 mm to 1 mm, are presented in the V band, with loss tangent values of the order of 100 µ radians. This system should be able to measure substrates as thin as less than 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm, which are the thicknesses of substrates in practical use.

This paper describes the device fabrication process and characteristics of AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors (HFETs) aimed for millimeter-wave applications. We developed three novel techniques to suppress short-channel effects and thereby enhance high-frequency device characteristics: high-Al-composition and thin AlGaN barrier layers, SiN passivation by catalytic chemical vapor deposition, and sub-100-nm Ti-based gates. The Al0.4Ga0.6N/GaN HFETs with a gate length of 30 nm had a maximum drain current density of 1.6 A/mm and a maximum transconductance of 402 mS/mm. The use of these techniques led to a current-gain cutoff frequency of 181 GHz and a maximum oscillation frequency of 186 GHz.