Monolithically Integrated Parametric Mixers with Time-Varying Transmission Lines (TVTL)

Parametric amplification and mixing effects of the time-varying transmission line (TVTL) was applied to design two monolithically integrated parametric mixers. Unlike traditional passive mixers, these parametric mixers can provide a mild conversion gain while achieving a low noise figure. An average of 0.4 dB conversion gain was obtained from 2.3 GHz to 2.9 GHz at the output of the designed traveling-wave TVTL parametric mixer. The mean noise figure within the measured bandwidth was 2.0 dB, and the output P1dB and IP3 were 11.8 dBm and 22.0 dBm respectively. Furthermore, an output-reflected TVTL parametric mixer was also designed and fabricated. The measured results indicate that both the conversion gain and LO power consumption can be significantly improved by reflecting the power at the signal frequency and the LO pump frequency.