Thermoelectric power detector for microwave application at X-band based on GaAs MMIC technology

A thermoelectric power detector is proposed to integrate with MMICs and other planar connecting circuit structures at X-band (8-12 GHz). The thermoelectric power detectors without and with the tapered line are designed to use 50 Omega coplanar waveguides as commonly applied in MMIC devices. The sensitivity without the tapered line is about 0.224, 0.211, and 0.202 mV/mW at 8, 10, and 12 GHz, respectively. For the power detector with the tapered line, the sensitivity is about 0.326, 0.311, and 0.295 mV/mW, and it increases averagely about 46% compared with that without the tapered line. This reported work is focused on developing microwave power detectors to be integrated with MMICs and other planar connecting circuit structures.