PLANAR TRANSMISSION LINE ATTENUATOR AND SWITCH

摘要

The planar transmission line attenuator and switch is formed on a semiconductor substrate consisting of a high resistivity semiconductor material and a thin, conductive semiconductor layer. Transmission line metallic conductors are deposited on the conductive semiconductor layer, and at least one of the metallic conductors forms a Schottky barrier contact to the semiconductor substrate. The gap between the metallic conductors defines a shunt current path through the semiconductor layer. By applying a bias voltage to the metallic conductor forming the Schottky barrier contact, the conductivity of the shunt path can be controlled by changing the depletion layer width across the Schottky barrier. A plurality of planar transmission line switches can be combined into multi-port networks, examples of which are cross-bar switching devices and .beta. element switching devices.