Ka band LNA and PA based on 100 nm GaN/Si HEMT process

Abstract

A low noise amplifier (LNA) microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) and a power amplifier (PA) MMIC in Ka band based on 100 nm gallium-nitride on silicon (GaN/Si) high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) process are reported in this work. The LNA has linear gain of 14–17 dB, noise figure (NF) of 0.8–1.1 dB and 1-dB compression output power (P1dB) of 21 dBm in 23–30 GHz frequency band. This is the first public report of GaN LNA having NF below 1 dB at this frequency range. This paper also reported a PA working in 23.5–30 GHz with linear gain of 20 dB, saturated output power of 7.6–12.4 Watt and power added efficiency (PAE) of 24%–37%. The traditional PA is based on gallium-nitride on silicon-carbon (GaN/SiC) process, there has been no PA as high as 10 W level based on GaN/Si process reported in the 20–30 GHz frequency region.