New results using membrane-supported circuits: a Ka-band power amplifier and survivability testing

摘要

This paper describes recent results which pertain to the integration and reliability testing of micromachined, membrane-supported transmission line circuits. These circuits employ a 1.4-/spl mu/m-thick dielectric membrane to support thin-film conducting lines above an air substrate. With regard to integration, the development of a Ka-band solid state power amplifier (SSPA) is presented. The design includes a membrane-supported Wilkinson power divider/combiner with 0.2 dB loss, along with a commercially available monolithic microwave/millimeter wave integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifier stage. Also reported are tests which investigated the survivability of membrane lines under space qualification conditions. No failures occurred as a result of thermal cycling and vibration testing at levels which reached 39.6 grms.