Abstract
In this paper a GaN-on-Si MMIC Low-Noise Amplifier (LNA) working in the Ka-band is shown. The chosen technology for the design is a 100 nm gate length HEMT provided by OMMIC foundry. Both small-signal and noise models had been previously extracted by the means of an extensive measurement campaign, and were then employed in the design of the presented LNA. The amplifier presents an average noise figure of 2.4 dB, a 30 dB average gain value, and input/output matching higher than 10 dB in the whole 34–37.5 Ghz design band, while non-linear measurements testify a minimum output 1 dB compression point of 23 dBm in the specific 35–36.5 GHz target band. This shows the suitability of the chosen technology for low-noise applications.
Highlights
Gallium arsenide (GaAs) is a material extremely suitable for high-frequency solid-state devices, components, and ICs (Integrated Circuits)
"MiGaNSOS" has been set up, aiming mainly to the qualification of a gallium nitride (GaN)-on-Si technology, namely, the OMMIC D01GH, which could be employed at industrial level on a wide scale
As it is well known, the Friis formula is the major rule to keep in mind throughout the whole design of a Low-Noise Amplifier (LNA). It demonstrates how in a cascade of several amplifying stages, it is the first one to give the main contribution to the noise figure (NF) of the whole circuit, since the noise added by the following stages is mitigated by the gain of the previous ones. This requires a careful design of the first stage and of its input matching network (IMN) in particular, which should add the least amount of losses, guaranteeing a satisfying matching level with the source and showing the optimum noise termination to the input section of the device, in order to minimize its noise contribution
Summary
Gallium arsenide (GaAs) is a material extremely suitable for high-frequency solid-state devices, components, and ICs (Integrated Circuits). Since GaN HEMTs need other material as substrates, silicon carbide (SiC) has been adopted as the preferred material to the growth of GaN devices, and its performance have been widely shown in literature both for devices [8,9] and designed MMICs [10]. MMICs results have been already presented in literature [13] For this reason, the EU H2020 project "MiGaNSOS" has been set up, aiming mainly to the qualification of a GaN-on-Si technology, namely, the OMMIC D01GH, which could be employed at industrial level on a wide scale. Presented results shall prove the suitability of this technology to the satisfaction of low-noise and high-power applications requirements, as shown in a similar work by only simulated performance obtained by the means of a design kit provided by foundry [14]
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