Micro Harmonics, a small business specializing in ferrite-based millimeter wave components, announced the availability of its initial circulator product, the YC148, covering 58 to 64 GHz. Insertion loss of the design is less than 0.4 dB and isolation greater than 20 dB.

The YC148 is the first of a planned line of commercial circulators which will cover various bands from 50 to greater than 140 GHz. Micro Harmonics says the performance of the circulator family will be “significantly improved” over similar products currently available.

New Isolator Products

Also, the company is extending its line of Faraday rotation isolators from WR12 (60 to 90 GHz) to WR3.4 (220 to 325 GHz). Prototypes of WR5.1, WR4.3 and WR3.4 designs are currently being evaluated and will be released by summer.

According to Micro Harmonics, these new isolators have low insertion loss and “superior” isolation, with power handling that is the best in the industry. High power handling is achieved by using diamond substrates to channel heat to the waveguide block, which serves as a heatsink.

To facilitate the integration of Micro Harmonics’ isolators into the next-level assembly, the firm has developed a drop-in isolator topology comprising a center plate, housing the core assembly, and an E-plane split waveguide block, containing a stepped waveguide twist on both input and output ports. The center plate can be removed and integrated into a larger system, or the topology can be used as a standalone component.

Developed for NASA

Micro Harmonics’ ferrite isolator and circulator products were initially developed for NASA sub-millimeter missions and supported with SBIR funding.

Commercial and scientific applications for the products include point-to-point radio links, portal security systems, radio astronomy and scientific instrumentation, such as plasma diagnostics, chemical spectroscopy and biomaterial analysis. More information can be accessed at the company’s website.

Micro Harmonics will be exhibiting at the 2018 International Microwave Symposium in Philadelphia, 12-14 June, in booth 555.