In this paper, a size-compact and monolithically integrated millimeter-wave 16-way high-power combiner for advanced radio-frequency (RF) electronics applications is developed featuring a wide operational bandwidth and high isolations between the combiner's adjacent ports. The proposed combiner is operating at the X band and is composed of fifteen 3-dB directional coupler units that are properly configured to achieve the overall structural compactness. The combiner is fast-prototyped as a single part by employing a metallic three-dimensional (3-D) printing technique, which successfully overcomes the difficulty in its monolithic implementation by using conventional subtractive manufacturing techniques. The experimental results demonstrate that the 16-way power combiner achieves an approximately 21% operational bandwidth (8.5-10.5 GHz) at the X band with port isolations of more than 20 dB, an amplitude imbalance of about ±1 dB, a phase deviation of around ±1°, and good return and insertion losses. The excellent RF performance of the combiner makes it a good candidate for applications in multiport high-power electronics systems where highly efficient power transmission and conversion among different ports are required.

中文翻译：

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通过 3D 金属打印技术实现的紧凑型 16 路高功率合路器，适用于高级射频电子系统应用


本文开发了一种尺寸紧凑、单片集成的毫米波 16 路高功率合路器，适用于先进的射频 (RF) 电子应用，具有宽工作带宽和合路器相邻端口之间的高隔离度。所提出的合路器工作在X频段，由15个3dB定向耦合器单元组成，这些单元经过适当配置以实现整体结构紧凑。该组合器采用金属三维（3-D）打印技术作为单个部件进行快速原型制作，成功克服了传统减材制造技术单片实现的困难。实验结果表明，16路功率合成器在X频段实现了约21%的工作带宽（8.5-10.5 GHz），端口隔离度超过20 dB，幅度不平衡约为±1 dB，相位偏差为约±1°，以及良好的回波损耗和插入损耗。该合路器出色的射频性能使其成为需要在不同端口之间进行高效电力传输和转换的多端口高功率电子系统应用的理想选择。