everything RF recently interviewed Doug Hagan, the president of KRYTAR. He holds an MBA in Entrepreneurial Management from the Wharton School and a BA in Urban Studies with Honors from the University of Pennsylvania.
Q. Can you give us an overview of KRYTAR, including when the company was founded, its history, and how it has evolved over the years?
Doug Hagan: A Heritage of High Performance and Innovation: KRYTAR specializes in the design and manufacture of ultra-broadband microwave components and test equipment for both commercial and military applications. We’re celebrating over 50 years of providing the highest quality ultra-broadband, mmWave, microwave, and RF components and test equipment for both commercial and military applications. KRYTAR’s 50th anniversary serves as an opportunity to celebrate our history and long-standing customer relationships. The company is grateful for our client’s trust over the years, which has been built on KRYTAR’s consistent ability to meet challenges and deliver reliable results.
Q. Can you provide an overview of KRYTAR’s RF and microwave product portfolio, including the frequency range covered and key applications?
Doug Hagan: KRYTAR products are designed and manufactured in the U.S. in our state-of-the-art facility located in the heart of Silicon Valley. The product line has expanded over the years, and products now cover DC to 110 GHz and include directional couplers and detectors, 3 dB hybrids, MLDD power dividers, terminations, coaxial adapters, bias tees, and Butler matrices, monopulse comparators, and beamformers. KRYTAR microwave components are manufactured in full compliance with the EU RoHS-6 Environmental Requirements.
KRYTAR products offer excellent solutions for many ultra-broadband applications, including electronic warfare (EW), mmWave, 5G NR (New Radio), 6G, Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E, SATCOM, radar, Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output (MIMO) radio links, signal monitoring and measurement, antenna beamforming, and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing environments.
Q. Directional couplers are one of KRYTAR’s flagship products. What are the key design considerations when developing ultra-broadband directional couplers?
Doug Hagan: Couplers are uniquely designed for system applications to perform many functions, including splitting and combining signals in amplifiers, switching circuits, and antenna beam-forming networks used in a wide range of commercial and military applications where power or frequency needs to be monitored, leveled, alarmed, or controlled. KRYTAR’s unique designs offer leading specifications, including low loss and flat coupling across the widest bands.
Directional Coupler from KRYTAR
With the aid of KRYTAR’s proprietary software, we are able to design high-performing, ultra-broadband directional couplers that are patented. KRYTAR’s non-uniform stripline design construction further improves the quality and performance of its coupler by eliminating transmission line discontinuities. These stripline designs uniquely incorporate an arrow at the input, achieving high directivity while maintaining the device’s flat coupling response, excellent frequency sensitivity with low ripples, and low insertion loss across the band.
Q. How does KRYTAR achieve consistent performance across wide bandwidths, and what differentiates your design approach?
Doug Hagan: The broadband design expertise at KRYTAR has created unique new designs, several of which are patented, and it’s what sets us apart in the industry. KRYTAR’s strict adherence to “Guaranteed Specifications” differentiates the company from others who rely on “Typical Specs.” KRYTAR delivers consistently better-than-expected results, reinforcing our reputation for quality.
Q. Which industries and applications most commonly use KRYTAR products today?
Doug Hagan: Our products offer excellent solutions for many ultra-broadband applications, including electronic warfare (EW), mmWave, 5G NR (New Radio), 6G, Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E, SATCOM, radar, Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output (MIMO) radio links, signal monitoring and measurement, antenna beamforming, and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing environments.
Q. What are the key functions of directional couplers and power dividers in RF and microwave systems?
Doug Hagan: Directional couplers are used in many different testing applications where power or frequency needs to be monitored, leveled, alarmed, or controlled. These include providing a signal sample for measurement or monitoring, feedback, combining feeds to and from antennas, antenna beam forming, and providing taps for cable distributed systems such as cable TV.
Common properties desired for all directional couplers are a wide operational bandwidth, high directivity, and a good impedance match at all ports when the other ports are terminated in matched loads.
Power Dividers are used to perform many functions, including splitting or combining signals in amplifiers, switching circuits, and antenna beamforming networks used in a wide range of applications where power or frequency needs to be monitored, leveled, alarmed, or controlled. RF and microwave systems may require power to be divided between two or more applications. In these cases, a device to facilitate the division of an input power is required.
Important specifications when determining how to use a power divider include insertion loss, amplitude and phase balance, and return losses. For power combining of uncorrelated signals, the most important specification is the isolation, which is the insertion loss from one equal power port to the other.
MLDD Power Divider from KRYTAR
Q. Does KRYTAR mainly offer standard catalog products, or do you also provide custom RF and microwave solutions?
Doug Hagan: KRYTAR has a catalogue of over 300 products, most of which are in stock for immediate use. Our close relationship with customers enables the company to provide superior customer service and support a variety of custom solutions, including prototyping. Our engineers and manufacturing team have worked over the years to design custom solutions meeting the highest performance and technical requirements, tailored for the most challenging applications.
Q. How does KRYTAR support customers with custom RF and microwave component requirements?
Doug Hagan: KRYTAR helps customers tackle any challenge with the industry’s broadest catalogue of products and high-performance custom solutions, delivering faster, more reliable results to keep projects on track. Custom solutions are customarily delivered in weeks, not months. With precise engineering and proven reliability, we provide components that exceed specifications, reducing downtime and helping systems achieve peak performance. KRYTAR has a commitment to technical excellence and customer satisfaction. These principles form the basis for the steady growth that has earned KRYTAR an enviable reputation in the microwave community.
Q. KRYTAR offers solutions for space-qualified systems. What design and reliability requirements must RF components meet for space applications, and how does KRYTAR test and qualify its products to meet these standards?
Doug Hagan: Space flight components must meet several environmental specs in order to be space-qualified. Some of the important environmental specifications to consider are shock, vibration, temperature, and atmospheric pressure. KRYTAR’s components are manufactured to have high reliability. Our successful space heritage offers qualities clients can depend on, including: offering innovative products, quick-reaction capability, design responsiveness, flexibility, fast production turnaround, and partnerships with our customers.
Our stripline-designed couplers can withstand high Gs and random flight vibration levels without damage or degradation. Our precision manufacturing process ensures the vibration and shock requirements are achieved.
Through KRYTAR’s analysis and in-house test equipment, and our environmental test partners, KRYTAR’s space products are tested to meet all required specifications and include only materials that are permitted for flight. KRYTAR devices also operate without damage or degradation after exposure to a radiation environment during their design life.
Space-Qualified RF Components from KRYTAR
Q. Quantum computing and cryogenic systems require specialized RF hardware. How is KRYTAR addressing the challenges of designing components that operate at cryogenic temperatures?
Doug Hagan: KRYTAR offers a wide selection of components for quantum and cryogenic designs. Using materials optimized for extreme cold temperature operating environments, they are uniquely designed for cryogenic to +85° C applications. These products feature Non-Magnetic designs and are In Stock for immediate delivery. Our products are well known for meeting the tightest specifications without compromise. Click here to view Cryogenic Couplers from Krytar.
Q. With the growth of mmWave, 5G, and future 6G technologies, what opportunities do you see for ultra-broadband RF components in next-generation communication systems?
Doug Hagan: KRYTAR helps meet your design and test challenges that come with ever-higher frequencies and broader bandwidths required for next-generation communications. KRYTAR products cover the frequencies required for 5G, 6G, and additional upcoming applications, whether from our line of catalogue products or custom designs.
For over five decades, KRYTAR has delivered cutting-edge designs, unmatched reliability, and a collaborative approach that ensures customers’ projects succeed, no matter how complex. The broadband design expertise at KRYTAR has created unique new designs, several of which are patented, and it’s what sets us apart in the industry.
Q. Looking ahead, what technology trends or application areas do you expect to drive demand for advanced RF and microwave components over the next decade?
Doug Hagan: Applications are always pushing the boundaries in perfecting wireless networks, satellite communications (SATCOM), advancing electronic defense systems, or exploring space. KRYTAR delivers off-the-shelf and custom solutions designed to meet customers’ specific needs with unparalleled precision, quality, and reliability. KRYTAR has a commitment to technical excellence and customer satisfaction. These principles form the basis for the steady growth that has earned us an enviable reputation in the RF/microwave community.
About the Company
KRYTAR, founded by Thomas J. Russell in 1975, is a privately owned California corporation specializing in the manufacture of Ultra-Broadband mmWave, Microwave, and RF components and test equipment for both commercial and military applications. Our products cover the DC to 110.0 GHz frequency range and include directional couplers, directional detectors, 3 dB hybrids, MLDD power dividers, terminations, coaxial adapters, bias tees, Butler matrices, and beamformers. The broadband design expertise at KRYTAR has created unique new designs, several of which are patented. KRYTAR has applied these designs to consistently introduce technologically advanced products with superior electrical performance and ruggedness.
