DATA SHEET
Silicon Schottky Barrier Diode Bondable Chips and Beam
Leads
Applications
Detectors
Mixers
Features
Available in both P-type and N-type low barrier designs
Low 1/f noise
Large bond pad chip design
Planar passivated beam-lead and chip construction
Description
Skyworks beam-lead and chip Schottky barrier detector diodes
are designed for applications through 40 GHz in the Ka band.
They are made by the deposition of a suitable barrier metal on an
epitaxial silicon substrate to form the junction. The process and
choice of materials result in low series resistance along with a
narrow spread of capacitance values for close impedance control.
P-type silicon is used to obtain superior 1/f noise characteristics.
N-type silicon is also available.
Beam-lead and chip diodes can be mounted on special customer
substrates.
Unmounted beam-lead diodes are especially well suited for use in
microwave integrated circuit (MIC) applications. Mounted beam-
lead diodes can be easily used in MIC, stripline, or other such
circuitry.
These “universal chips” are designed for a high degree of device
reliability in both commercial and industrial uses. The offset bond
pad assures that no mechanical damage occurs at the junction
during the wire bonding. Additionally, the 4 mil bond pad
eliminates performance variation due to bonding, improves
efficiency during manual operations, and is ideal for automated
assembly.
The choice of N- and P-type silicon allows the designer to
optimize the silicon material for the intended application:
Doppler mixers and high-sensitivity detectors benefit from using
the low noise characteristics of the P-type silicon.
Low conversion loss mixers and biased detectors can be
designed using standard N-type material.
Applications
These diodes are categorized by tangential signal sensitivity (TSS)
for detector applications in four frequency ranges: S, X, Ku, and
Ka bands. However, they can also be used as modulators, high-
speed switches, and low-power limiters.
TSS is a parameter that describes a diode’s detector sensitivity. It
is defined as the amount of signal power, below a one-milliwatt
reference level, required to produce an output pulse with an
amplitude sufficient to raise the noise fluctuations by an amount
equal to the average noise level. TSS is approximately 4 dB above
the minimum detectable signal.
The P-type Schottky diodes in this Data Sheet are optimized for
low noise in the 1/f region. They require a small forward bias (to
reduce video resistance) if efficient operation is required. The bias
not only increases sensitivity but also reduces parameter variation
Skyworks Solutions, Inc. • Phone [781] 376-3000 • Fax [781] 376-3100 • sales@skyworksinc.com • www.skyworksinc.com
200847K • Skyworks Proprietary Information • Products and Product Information are Subject to Change Without Notice • June 3, 2019
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