Realization of Low in-Band Harmonic for Compact 6–18-GHz T/R Module Under TX-Mode Operation

Wideband high power amplifier (PA) with poor harmonic suppression will degrade the performance of the active electronically scanned array (AESA) due to its harmonic products falling into the operating bandwidth of a wideband T/R module. In view of this, a compact reconfigurable harmonic suppress circuit (HSC) is proposed to achieve low in-band harmonic for compact T/R module with multiple octaves under TX-mode operation. The HSC consists of eight microstrip resonant stubs with high impedance and multiple p-i-n switches. By controlling the p-i-n switches, the HSC can work in three states. When six of the used p-i-n switches are “ON” state, the corresponding microstrip resonant stubs are loaded onto the 50 Ω transmission line, which performs a bandstop filter (BSF). For verification, the HSC with bandwidth of 12–15 GHz/15–18 GHz is designed to apply to a 6–18 GHz T/R module. As a result, the second harmonic of 6–9 GHz transmitting signal can be suppressed below 32 dBc when compared to the PA’s fundamental output. While the p-i-n switches are “OFF” state, the HSC is almost the same as a 50 Ω transmission line, which will have a little effect on the 9–18 GHz transmitting signal. The measurement results approximately agree with the calculated results and simulated results, which demonstrate the validity of the proposed HSC.