Monolithic Implementation and Performance Comparison of Three Single Balanced Architectures for $D$-Band HEMT Mixers

Three mixers with different single balanced architectures are compared to tackle the implementation of fully monolithic integrated <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$D$</tex>-band receivers and transmitters with high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) technologies. From a characterization in down-converter configuration with focus on conversion gain, spurious suppression, and intermodulation distortion, crucial design aspects on circuit level are identified and individual prospects are emphasized. For the first time such a comparison is performed at <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$D$</tex>-Band frequencies, employing a vector network analyzer (VNA)-based on-wafer measurement setup to obtain match and frequency response corrected results.