Westinghouse Electric Corporation

United States of America As Represented by the Secretary of the Air Force

Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation

Daniel C Buck

Dale E Dawson

Soong H Lee

Ricky D Hess

Franklin B Jones

Walter E Milberger

Charles S Kerfoot

Steven N Stitzer

Alfred W Morse

Edward C Niehenke

James E Degenford

Bruce R McAvoy

David J Janocko

Salvador H Talisa

William E McGann

Gregory K Sinon

Paul LePage

Dickron Mergerian

Scott A Imhoff

David F Everett

Chun L Lau

Stanley J Pieseski

Richard S Nye

Charles Moskowitz

Charles H Grauling, Jr

Steven Grice

A high-temperature superconductive microwave delay line that operates in an essentially pure TEM field configuration in a compact assembly. The delay line is a planar signal delay line which includes first and second substrates made of first and second dielectric materials; each substrate can be LAO material. First and second patterned delay line segments having a configuration, are formed of first and second conductive materials on the obverse sides of the first and second substrates, respectively. On the reverse side of each of the first and second substrates, respective first and second ground planes are formed using respective first and second conductive materials, which are preferred to be high-temperature superconductive films, such as YBCO films. The delay line also includes coupling means for coupling the first patterned delay line segment to the second patterned delay line segment, thus bringing the two patterned delay line segments into substantial contact.

High-temperature superconducting microwave delay line of spiral

A microelectrostatic cantilever switch that has a thin impermeable oxide layer on the surface of a contact pad which is engaged by an unsupported portion of a cantilever beam when the switch is in a closed position. The switch in the open position exhibits a capacitance between the cantilever beam and contact pad of 0.8 Pf and a capacitance of 0.001 to 0.01 Pf in the closed position.

Non-contact two position microeletronic cantilever switch

A two-way communication system is provided having a stationary device and a portable passive device. The portable passive device has circuitry for storing and transmitting coded information. The stationary member transmits a signal at a first frequency via magnetic field and the portable passive device transmits coded information stored on circuitry provided therein at a second frequency also via a magnetic field. An antenna circuit is provided in the portable passive device having a parallel resonant circuit and a series resonant circuit. The parallel resonant circuit derives operating power from the signal at a first frequency for use in the circuitry provided in the portable passive device. The series resonant circuit transmits coded information at a second frequency.

Dual resonant antenna circuit for RF tags

An apparatus is disclosed for providing a radiating element having an electrical reflective phase shifter for reflecting electromagnetic energy received from an electromagnetic energy source including a dielectric substrate having a top surface, a conductive layer having a channel-like opening in its top surface and disposed on the top surface of the dielectric substrate, at least one electrostatic switch spans the channel-like opening and a means for selectively actuating the electrostatic switch to reflect the electrostatic energy. The electrostatically actuated mechanical switch utilizes a cantilever element fabricated by solid-state microfabrication techniques. The electrical reflective phase shifter can be grouped into a phase shifting reflect array for beam steering an electromagnetic energy from an electromagnetic energy source.

Slotline reflective phase shifting array element utilizing electrostatic

An apparatus is disclosed for providing an electrostatically actuated mechanical switch utilizing a cantilever beam element fabricated by solid-state microfabrication techniques. The apparatus reduces the required pull down voltage and lowers the switch inductance by separating the pull down electrode and contact pad. The pull down electrode is placed further away from the fulcrum of the cantilever beam then the contact pad to optimize the mechanical advantages which allow for a reduced pull down voltage. The contact pad is placed closer to the cantilever fulcrum to reduce the associated switch inductance. The gap between the contact pad and the cantilever beam is less then the gap between the pull down electrode and the cantilever beam to insure that the cantilever makes first contact with the contact pad.

Low inductance cantilever switch

A semiconductor device has material removed from the back of the substrate and a manufacturing process is provided for manufacturing these devices. In the exemplary embodiment, a GaAs FET chip is formed by a process including the step of etching the GaAs substrate from the back of the chip in a defined removal region to reduce the dielectric constant in the region of the source-to-drain path. A buffer layer of differing material provided between the active layers and the substrate prevents etching of the active layers during the removal process. To allow simplified etching patterns, the source-to-drain path may be laid out on the surface of the chip in a variety of patterns, including 'packed' patterns concentrating a large path area in a small surface area of the chip. Optionally, this buffer layer may also be etched away in a further processing step. An insulating layer of material may be added to the back side of the chip in the etched region to increase structural strength, and a pressure relief ventilation path may be provided connecting the removal region to the outside at an edge or at the surface of the chip.

Low-loss semiconductor device and backside etching method for

A stripline filter with suppressed electro-magnetic leakage. A filter topology suppresses generation of spurious waveguide modes by structuring microstrip launchers to operate as a waveguide way beyond cutoff of the waveguide modes, and by damping out remaining waveguide mode energy with lossy stripes in the filter package.

Superconducting filter with reduced electromagnetic leakage

A cascode radio frequency amplifier in which a control amplifier stage is provided and any number of clone amplifier stages are connected in series (cascode) with the control amplifier. The cascode amplifiers provide equal voltage and power since each of the clone stages provides unity gain. The device can operate from low frequencies to high frequencies.

Multistage cascode radio frequency amplifier

In the present invention the upper edge of the frequency response of the magnetostatic wave (MSW) filter is sharpened. A band limiting element (BLE) is coupled to the MSW filter, preferably in the filter element output. In one embodiment the BLE absorbs signals above a certain frequency in the upper band edge of the MSW. In another embodiment, the BLE reinforces the output response.

Magnetostatic wave (MSW) filter with sharp upper cut-off frequency and

A high speed optical sensor comprising a parallel array of vertical field effect transistors and optical fibers disposed in the recesses between the transistors is disclosed herein. Each of the vertical field effect transistors includes a substrate of doped gallium arsenide divided by a depleted region. One side of each of the gallium arsenide substrates is flanked by an optical fiber which transmits an optical signal into one side of the depleted region, while the other side of the substrate includes a gate electrode for controlling the flow of photo charges induced in the depleted region by the light signals. The gate electrode serves not only to control the flow of charges through the transistor but also reflects back a portion of the light emanated by the optical fiber so that it passes a second time through the depleted region. The efficient light coupling that occurs between the optical fibers and the depleted regions of the substrates of the vertical FET's, in combination with the low capacitive leakage afforded by the design at high frequencies and the high power density obtainable with vertical FET's results in a photosensor which is advantageously efficient, fast the compact.

Vertical FET high speed optical sensor

A movable optical fiber system for directing test and calibration signals to the individual transmit-receive modules of a phased array antenna is provided with a laser device for generating optic signals. The laser device also includes a circuit for amplitude modulating the optic signals prior to their exiting the laser device. A fixed length of fiber-optic cable is connected with the laser device for directing the generated optic signals to a photodiode secured for movement to a motion device positioned adjacent the antenna face. The photodiode converts the optic signals to equivalent microwave signals, and the microwave signals are thereafter passed through a waveguide connected with the photodiode. Both the photodiode and waveguide are moved in a preselected linear path across the antenna face by the motion device; and, as the motion device operates to move the photodiode and waveguide, microwave test and calibration signals are discharged from the waveguide to be received by the individual transmit-receive modules in succession.

Movable optical fiber system for directing microwaves

The invention is an improved integrated circuit chip assembly which provides enhanced heat transfer from active electronic devices of the integrated circuit by significantly reducing the thickness of the substrate and providing the necessary structural support through a thermally conducting spacing segment between the substrate and a ground plane in the region of the active electronic devices. This improvement further permits added flexibility in the design of transmission lines by permitting adjustment of the distance between the transmission line and the ground plane and furthermore by permitting the introduction of a second dielectric material such that the impedance of the transmission line may be controlled.

Integrated circuit chip assembly utilizing selective backside deposition

Coupling module for use with phased-array antenna systems. The module includes separate phase shifters for the transmit and receive paths through the module. The transmit path also includes a power amplifier and the receive path includes a small signal, low noise amplifier. The two paths are coupled to the antenna radiating element by a transmit-receive switch or by a microwave circulator. A conducting septum is located between the devices in the transmit and receive paths to increase the isolation between the two paths. The individual phase shifters are optimized for unidirectional flow of comparatively large or small microwave signals and for the degree of desired phase shift resolution. By using vector modulators for the phase shift devices, the amplitude of the signal in the path can be compensated for temperature and frequency variations in the path.

Transmit-receive module for phased-array antennas

Transversal characteristic filter using a magnetostatic-wave device having amplitude weighted transducer assemblies. The input transducer includes a multi-fingered conductive layer with each finger being equally dimensioned and spaced. Each finger is separately connected to a contact of a field effect transistor integrated onto a semiconductor chip. A separate transistor is available for connection to each finger. The contact widths of the transistors vary depending upon the location of the connected finger from the center-most finger. A distribution approaching sin(x)/x is desirable in most applications. At the output or combining end of the device, the transducer fingers are separately connected to the gates of individual transistors whose junction widths vary symmetrically about the width of the junctions of the transistor connected to the center-most finger. Phase reversal is provided for fingers which are sufficiently displaced to be aligned with the side lobes of the sin(x)/x current distribution, at both the input and output transducers.

Magnetostatic-wave device

Generally, pulsed radar transmitters of the solid-state variety generate rectangularly shaped RF envelope pulses having discontinuities in the rise and fall edges thereof. It has been identified that, while maximizing power radiation efficiency, these sharp rise and fall times additionally provide for excessive energy in the spectral sidelobes about the transmission frequency of the radar signal. This excessive spectral sidelobe energy has been found to degrade the performance of closely operating pulsed radars through mutual interference. The present invention provides for pulse shaping control in a solidstate transmitter of a pulsed radar for reducing the spectral sidelobe energy being transmitted. The control is directed to modulating the shape of the rectangular RF envelope pulses to have substantially continuously rising and falling edges. In the preferred embodiment, a bipolar microwave transistor is coupled, in a common base configuration, cascadedly between low and high power amplification stages of the radar transmitter. A rectangularly pulsed RF power signal conducted through the transistor is modulated in accordance with a preshaped pulsed power supply signal supplied to the transistor coincidently therewith to render a corresponding power output RF pulse envelope substantially free of discontinuities in the rise and fall edges thereof.

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Hanover, MD, United States of America

Daniel C Buck