A High Gain and High Linear 0.25 μm GaN HEMT Based Monolithic Integrated C-band Low Noise Amplifier

Abstract

In this paper, two-stages low noise amplifier (LNA) based on inductively source-degenerated topology with R-C feedback network was designed using ALGAN/GAN 0.25um high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) technology on silicon carbide (SiC) substrate. The LNA is designed to be employed for operating in the C-band. The feedback circuit topology is used in the design to achieve wider bandwidth associated with low noise figure. The LNA provided a gain of 22.5–25.5 dB with a NF less than 1.8 dB from 4.5 to 7 GHz. Post-layout simulation results demonstrate that the input return loss is −9 to −15 dB and the output return loss is −10 to −22 dB across the entire frequency range of 4.5 GHz to 7 GHz. The LNA has an output P1 dB and OIP3 of 24 dBm and 35 dBm, respectively which illustrated high linear performance. The total chip size is 1.8 x 2 mm2 (3.6 mm2) including the pads which indicate compactness compared to the state of the art.