Working with designs above 100 GHz introduces new challenges, particularly when it comes to accurately characterizing multi-port passive circuits.

As bandwidth demands increase, millimeter-wave technologies offer wider spectrum and smaller antenna sizes. However, achieving efficient and cost-effective power amplification remains difficult. While III-V InP technologies deliver high performance, they come with higher cost and increased passive losses due to limited back-end-of-line metallization. An alternative approach relies on parallel architectures using multi-port passive circuits such as couplers, baluns, and power dividers/combiners, which enable power distribution and combining at lower cost. Such an approach relies on accurate multi-port characterization, which is significantly more challenging in terms of calibration, device access design, and measurement setup.

In this webinar, Professor Philippe Ferrari, TIMA Laboratory, Université Grenoble Alpes, shares how these challenges can be addressed in practice and the benefits of direct four-port measurements. Drawing on real measurement work in D-band and emerging 6G backhaul applications, the session explores how engineers approach the characterization of key building blocks such as couplers, baluns, and power dividers/combiners.