Journal of Microwave Power and Electromagnetic Energy (JMPEE)

 

TITLE

Microwave Power Rectification with Commercial Schottky Barrier Diodes [PDF]

AUTHORS

A. C. Macpherson, E. D. Cohen, and M. Herndon

1969

4

4

278-287

YEAR

VOLUME

ISSUE

PAGES

 

Abstract

The microwave rectification efficiency of several commercially available Schottky barrier diodes was measured between I and 7 GHz as a function of power input and dc load resistance. The highest efficiency observed was 89 per cent with 0.6-watt power input at 1 GHz. For a higher-frequency diode, produced by the same manufacturer, efficiencies of 83 and 68 per cent were observed at 4 GHz and 6.4 GHz respectively with an input power of 100 mW. A theory is developed in which diode losses in the back and forward direction are described by four parameters: the back capacitance, the series resistance, the front resistance, and the "knee" voltage. The diode is imbedded in a lumped circuit, and the efficiency is calculated. The theoretical dependence of the efficiency on the load resistance agrees quite well with the measurements, but the frequency dependence is less satisfactory.