A wide-band differential and single-ended microwave amplitude detector

This paper presents a wide-band amplitude detector that can perform differential and single-ended signal detection on sinusoidal microwave/millimeter-wave signals. The detector contains only one active component, a diode-connected NPN bipolar transistor. The detector's two major advantages, simple circuit structure and variable measuring configurations, make it a good candidate for on-chip applications, and specifically convenient for Six-Port Reflectometer (SPR). To demonstrate its powerful functionality over a wide band, one of its several different measuring configurations is fabricated as a stand-alone circuit in the 0.13-µm IBM BiCMOS-8HP technology. The simulation results show that the detector can work up to 80 GHz, and the measurement results verify its functionality up to 67 GHz due to test equipment limitations. The closed-form formulas of the developed detector are also given.