Broadband high frequency mixer

TLDR: In this article, a broadband mixer has two separate tapered ground plane microstrip baluns associated with the first and second signal ports and two separate ground plane balun associated with a second signal port together with a frequency converter or mixer portion coupled between the baluns and a third signal port.

Abstract: A broadband mixer has two separate tapered ground plane microstrip baluns associated with a first signal port and two separate tapered ground plane microstrip baluns associated with a second signal port together with a frequency converter or mixer portion coupled between the baluns associated with the first and second signal ports and a third signal port. The frequency converter or mixer portion is comprised of eight diodes in a double balanced bridge arrangement having two sets of terminals associated with the first and second signal ports, each of the terminals of said two sets being separated from each of the terminals of the third signal port by a diode to electrically isolate their respective signals. The baluns associated with the first and second signal ports provide for the transformation of unbalanced input signals to balanced signals at the frequency converting diodes. Another balun coupled between the diode bridge arrangement and the third signal port provides an unbalanced signal at the third signal port in response to balanced signals at the diodes from signal inputs at the first and second signal ports. The baluns associated with the first and second signal ports are cross-connected so that their respective signals do not pass through to the opposite signal port. The circuit is reversible in that a signal may be input to or output from any signal port.