![](http://datasheet.mmic.net.cn/280000/HSMS-285A_datasheet_16076568/HSMS-285A_5.png)
5
For a well designed zero bias
Schottky, R
V
is in the range of 5 to
25 K
, and it shorts out the
junction capacitance. Moving up to
a higher frequency enables the
measurement of the capacitance,
but it then shorts out the video
resistance. The best measurement
technique is to mount the diode in
series in a 50
microstrip test
circuit and measure its insertion
loss at low power levels (around
-20 dBm) using an HP8753C
network analyzer. The resulting
display will appear as shown in
Figure 11.
I
3
-40
FREQUENCY (MHz)
-10
-25
3000
-20
10
1000
100
-35
-30
-15
50
50
0.16 pF
50
50
9 K
Figure 11. Measuring C
J
and R
V
.
At frequencies below 10 MHz, the
video resistance dominates the
loss and can easily be calculated
from it. At frequencies above 300
MHz, the junction capacitance sets
the loss, which plots out as a
straight line when frequency is
plotted on a log scale. Again,
calculation is straightforward.
L
P
and C
P
are best measured on
the HP8753C, with the diode
terminating a 50
line on the
input port. The resulting tabulation
of S
11
can be put into a microwave
linear analysis program having the
five element equivalent circuit
with R
V
, C
J
and R
S
fixed. The
optimizer can then adjust the
values of L
P
and C
P
until the
calculated S
11
matches the
measured values. Note that
extreme care must be taken to de-
embed the parasitics of the 50
test fixture.
Detector Circuits
When DC bias is available,
Schottky diode detector circuits
can be used to create low cost RF
and microwave receivers with a
sensitivity of -55 dBm to
-57dBm.
[1]
Moreover, since
external DC bias sets the video
impedance of such circuits, they
display classic square law
response over a wide range of
input power levels
[2,3]
. These
circuits can take a variety of
forms, but in the most simple case
they appear as shown in Figure 12.
This is the basic detector circuit
used with the HSMS-286A family
of diodes.
Where DC bias is not available, a
zero bias Schottky diode is used to
replace the conventional Schottky
in these circuits, and bias choke L
1
is eliminated. The circuit then is
reduced to a diode, an RF
impedance matching network and
(if required) a DC return choke
and a capacitor. This is the basic
detector circuit used with the
HSMS-285A family of diodes.
In the design of such detector
circuits, the starting point is the
equivalent circuit of the diode, as
shown in Figure 10.
Of interest in the design of the
video portion of the circuit is the
diode’s video impedance—the
other four elements of the equiv-
alent circuit disappear at all
reasonable video frequencies. In
general, the lower the diode’s
video impedance, the better the
design.
VIDEO
OUT
RF
IN
Z-MATCH
NETWORK
L
1
DC BIAS
VIDEO
OUT
Z-MATCH
NETWORK
L
1
DC BIAS
RF
IN
Figure 12. Basic Detector
Circuits.
The situation is somewhat more
complicated in the design of the
RF impedance matching network,
which includes the package
inductance and capacitance
(which can be tuned out), the
series resistance, the junction
capacitance and the video
resistance. Of these five elements
of the diode’s equivalent circuit,
the four parasitics are constants
and the video resistance is a
function of the current flowing
through the diode.
[1]
Hewlett-Packard Application Note 923,
Schottky Barrier Diode Video Detectors.
[2]
Hewlett-Packard Application Note 986,
Square Law and Linear Detection.
[3]
Hewlett-Packard Application Note 956-5,
Dynamic Range Extension of Schottky Detectors.