Active millimeter-wave integrated circuit

A millimeter wave integrated circuit comprising:

• a. a conductive image plane,
• b. an image guide of non-metallic waveguiding material disposed on one surface of said image plane and having a predetermined width and height which controls the mode of propagation and frequency of electromagnetic waves which propagate throughout the entire cross-sectional area of said guide and from point to point along the length thereof extending along a predetermined path on the surface of said image plane, said image guide having an opening therein which exposes a predetermined area of said image plane,
• c. a relatively low impedance solid state device mounted within said opening of said image guide and atop said exposed area of said image plane for coupling energy to or from said image guide,
• d. a metallization pattern of predetermined geometrical configuration formed at a selected location on the top surface of said image guide for providing an impedance transition region in said image guide between the relatively high impedance at remote locations of said image guide and the relatively low impedance of said solid state device, and
• e. electrical connection means interconnected between said solid state device and said metallization pattern for coupling energy between said device and said image guide and also for providing a DC bias connection path to said solid state device, whereby efficient energy coupling is provided between said solid state device and said image guide, and said image plane provides both a DC return path for DC bias applied to said solid state device as well as a heat sink having good mechanical and thermal properties for said solid state device.