Micro Harmonics Co. | MMW Components

Happy Thanksgiving from the Micro Harmonics team. We are so grateful to all of you for supporting us as we look to a bright future.

Our new, patented hybrid circulators are giving microwave engineers the option of specifying one component that can operate over multiple bands, making instrument architecture much easier. Our hybrid circulators are quickly finding optimal application. NASA’s Cloud Radar System group—based at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California—is currently exploring their use in weather radars. JPL utilizes circulators in their high-altitude aircraft and high-throughput satellite communication systems for measuring cloud properties and upper atmospheric constituents. Some of these systems operate in the G-band (167-175 GHz) with development also planned at frequencies near 240 GHz and beyond. Y-junction circulators are not manufactured at these frequencies due to the extreme sensitivity of the center frequency to small variations in the dimensions of the ferrite core. However, our hybrid circulator can easily reach the WR-2.8 band 260-400 GHz and possibly beyond. #mmWave #hybridcirculators #MicroHarmonics #technology #NASA

If you are getting impedance mismatches when using a mm-Wave amplifier the issue could be that part of the signal is being reflected back toward the amplifier and degrading your system. To resolve this, you could just turn up the amplifier until you overcome the isolator insertion loss. However, there is a “high” cost to this approach. High operating temperatures equate to a lower meantime to failure. Meaning, your amplifier (and your system) will have a shorter lifetime. Instead, you could use a #mmWave isolator with a high-power rating. Our diamond heat spreader ensures the temperature inside the isolator remains much lower at any given power level than that of traditional isolators. This, again, means higher reliability. Also, driving the amplifier hard may lead to signal distortion and unwanted harmonic content. #mmWave #RFengineering #MicroHarmonics #technology #isolator

The two primary technologies used for electronically tunable attenuation in mm-wave frequencies are PIN diode and rotary vane. Now there is a third! Our new voltage variable attenuator (VA) uses the principle of Faraday rotation to rotate the RF signal polarity into a fixed resistive vane. There are no moving parts and no sensitivity to electrostatic discharge. Our VA is controlled using a DC voltage supply which sets the current in the magnetic coil, controlling the magnetic bias field. To learn more about our breakthrough VA, click here: https://lnkd.in/gAFsanY7 #mmW #MicroHarmonics #rfengineering #technology

Don’t be frightened by the fact that our #mmWave isolators operate at up to 400 GHz. No, it is not a trick. You get high isolation and the lowest insertion loss in the industry with our isolators. Now available in frequency bands from WR-28 all the way through to WR-2.8. What a treat! Have a happy and safe Halloween.

The next breakthrough in the fight against deadly viral outbreaks may be just a higher frequency away. Curt Dunnam, Director of Operations for the ACERT National Biomedical Center at Cornell University, works with a research team that enlists millimeter-wave technology in the search for treatments for the latest viruses. However, Dunnam and his team initially struggled to find #mmWave components capable of operating into the sub-THz regime. “Micro Harmonics had an isolator with the single most important parameter I needed, low insertion loss,” explains Dunnam. “They were ultimately able to select one with just 1.2 dB loss at 240 GHz, which is pretty phenomenal.” #rfengineering #mmWave #Microharmonics #Cornell #technology

Do mm-Wave power amplifiers need isolators? The answer is often, “YES!” It’s common to see a #mmWave power amplifier with an isolator attached to the output port, but this usually has less to do with matching the impedance of the amplifier and more to do with the impedance matching of the load. Manufacturers often attach an isolator to the output because they have no control over the impedance match of the customer’s system. The figure below gives an illustration of the problem. When the amplifier is tested at the factory everything is working fine: normal operating temperature for a specified amount of DC power. However, when the customer installs it in their system, the performance degrades because of an impedance mismatch which causes part of the signal to be reflected back toward the amplifier. This can result in reduced output power, increased operating temperature, and an increased draw from the DC power supplies. #mmWave #MicroHarmonics #technology #rfengineering #amplifier #isolator

10 reasons why our millimeter-wave ferrite components are the most advanced in the global market: 1. The industry’s lowest insertion loss, by a wide margin 2. Diamond heatsinks, deliver the highest power handling capability possible 3. Compact size 4. High isolation 5. Extended bandwidth (greater than full waveguide bandwidth) 6. Products that operate from 25 - 400 GHz 7. Cryogenic options 8. Each component is fully characterized on a vector network analyzer – not spot checked 9. Full test data is provided to customers for every component we sell 10. We are always listening to the market and developing new technologies and advancements that align with what system engineers are requesting Ready for a better mmWave component? Reach out today: sales@mhc1.com #mmWave #rfengineering #MicroHarmonics #technology #innovation

How much signal are you willing to lose at mmWave frequencies? Insertion loss is a measure of how much loss a signal incurs as it passes through the isolator in the forward direction. The suppression of the reverse wave can’t come at the expense of attenuating the forward, input signal. Traditional isolators have low insertion loss within the microwave bands, but at mmWave frequencies, the loss becomes increasingly problematic. For instance, in the WR-10 band (75-110 GHz) the insertion loss can exceed 3 dB, meaning half of the signal power is lost. That increases to 5 dB in the WR-5.1 band (140 -220 GHz). Our new isolators, however, lower the insertion loss to less than 1 dB at 75-110 GHz and only 2 dB at 220-330 GHz. Learn more about what is possible in #mmWave components: https://lnkd.in/gPTfPHzN #rfengineering #MicroHarmonics #technology #isolator #rf

Bonjour, we are in Paris for the 2024 European Microwave Week at booth 939C. Our Founder David Porterfield, COO Diane Kees, and sales engineer Joel Kees are all here and excited to meet you. Come see a demo of our new D-band voltage variable attenuator. See you soon! #mmWave #MicroHarmonics #EuropeanMicrowaveWeek #techinnovation