A GaN Based Reverse Recovery Time Limiter Circuit Integrated with a Low Noise Amplifier

Abstract

AbstractThis article presents the design of a GaN-only robust low noise amplifier (LNA) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) integrated with a reverse recovery time compensation (RRTC) circuit at the input. We use the \(\mathbf {0.25\,\mu m}\) GaN HEMT process from UMS in the complete design of robust LNA MMIC in the 5.8–6.2 GHz band. The proposed MMIC design is compact and requires a single substrate to fabricate LNA and RRTC circuits. To test the design, we apply a high power RF pulse of 40 dBm for 250 nsec and achieve a 16.8 dB reduction in gain \(S_{21}\) with an RRT limiter circuit in place. The simulated LNA takes less than 100 nsec to get back to its normal operating condition after applying a wideband (4–10 GHz) and high power (10–40 dBm) RF pulse for 250 nsec.KeywordsGan-HEMTLow Noise Amplifier (LNA)Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC)Reverse recovery time