M/A-COM, a business unit of Tyco Electronics, has expanded its beam lead PIN diode group with the addition of MA4PBL027 HMIC silicon beam lead PIN diode. The HMIC silicon beam lead PIN diode is designed to outperform existing diode solutions in a variety of wideband and broadband switching applications and is fabricated with M/A-COM’s proprietary HMIC silicon-glass process. The diode uses the HMIC performance advantages of lower loss, smaller frequency dispersion and improved RF incident operating power.

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The MA4PBL027 diode is fabricated on epitaxial wafers, which are designed to provide highly repeatable electrical characteristics and extremely low parasitics. Plus, the diode is fully passivated with silicon dioxide, silicon nitride and a BCB protective polymer. The low Ct (30 fF), respectable Rs (2.8 V) and small Ls (0.3 nH) makes it useful for multithrow switches, switched-pad attenuators and switched-line phase shifters in microwave control circuits. The switching speeds, which are less than 50 ns, are achieved with a MA-COM standard, DR65-0001, surface-mount, +/- 5V PIN diode driver.

The silicon-glass beam lead PIN diode device features one silicon pedestal embedded inside of a low loss, low dispersion glass, which supports the beam-leads. The diode is formed on the top of the pedestal, with air-bridges connecting the diode to the beam-leads. The top is fully encapsulated with silicon nitride and has an additional BCB polymer layer for scratch and impact protection, which prevents damage to the junction and the air-bridges during handling and assembly. The individual diodes exhibit excellent series resistance, lower capacitance, and fast nanosecond switching times.

The MA4PBL027 is available from stock and is priced at approximately $3.75, in quantities of 10,000.