Design and Fabrication of Frequency Multiplier Based on Composite Right/Left-Handed Nonlinear Transmission Lines.

A GaAs monolithic K-band left-handed frequency multiplier based on a composite right/left-handed coplanar-waveguide transmission line (TL), periodically distributed series planar Schottky varactor diode, and shunt rectangle spiral inductor has been successfully designed and fabricated. The anomalous dispersion of the left-handed TL and strong nonlinearity of the Schottky varactor are combined to effectively generate harmonics when a large signal is applied. The maximum output power of the second harmonic is 6.7 dBm (including 3.85-dBm loss from the measurement system), which was achieved when a 20-dBm fundamental frequency of 13.8 GHz is fed. High conversion efficiency for the second harmonic over a broad frequency range of 16.4–35.2 GHz has been obtained experimentally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]