MMIC Low Noise Amplifier Research Articles

220 GHz low‐noise amplifier MMICs and modules based on a high performance 50 nm metamorphic HEMT technology

A metamorphic composite-channel InAlAs/InGaAs based high electron mobility transistor (MHEMT) technology has been developed for active and passive high-resolution imaging applications. The technology features 50 nm gate length in combination with an In content of 80% in the main channel and 53% in the second channel. An extrinsic transit frequency ft of 400 GHz and an extrinsic maximum transconductance gm,max of 1800 mS/mm were measured at a drain voltage of 1 V. Based on this advanced MHEMT technology, coplanar G-band low-noise amplifier (LNA) MMICs were realized, achieving a small-signal gain of more than 15 dB between 192 and 230 GHz together with an average noise figure of 8 dB. Furthermore, mounting and packaging of the monolithic amplifier chips into G-band waveguide modules was accomplished with only minor reduction in circuit performance. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

A 45-dB variable-gain low-noise MMIC amplifier

A variable-gain amplifier (VGA) operating at 2.5 GHz based on single-ended topology has been designed and characterized. Three such stages were cascaded and preceded by a single-stage low-noise amplifier. A source follower was used at the output in order to achieve excellent output match. The variation gain is 45 dB with a maximum gain of 47 dB. The -3-dB bandwidth is 0.8 GHz. Minimum noise figure of 0.81 dB is obtained in the highest gain mode. The highest output power, corresponding to 1-dB compression point is -7.2 dBm and the corresponding output third-order intercept point is +2 dBm. The circuit is implemented in a GaAs 0.15-mum pseudomorphic high electron-mobility transistor technology. The combined area occupied by the multistage low-noise VGA and the single-ended VGA is 3.5 mm times 3 mm

220-GHz metamorphic HEMT amplifier MMICs for high-resolution imaging applications

In this paper, the development of 220-GHz low-noise amplifier (LNA) MMICs for use in high-resolution active and passive millimeter-wave imaging systems is presented. The amplifier circuits have been realized using a well-proven 0.1-/spl mu/m gate length and an advanced 0.05-/spl mu/m gate length InAlAs/InGaAs based depletion-type metamorphic high electron mobility transistor technology. Furthermore, coplanar circuit topology in combination with cascode transistors was applied, leading to a compact chip size and an excellent gain performance at high millimeter-wave frequencies. A realized single-stage 0.05-/spl mu/m cascode LNA exhibited a small-signal gain of 10 dB at 222 GHz, while a 0.1-/spl mu/m four-stage amplifier circuit achieved a linear gain of 20 dB at the frequency of operation and more than 10 dB over the bandwidth from 180 to 225 GHz.

Super low noise C-band PHEMT MMIC low noise amplifierwith minimum input matching network

A two-stage PHEMT MMIC low noise amplifier with a very low noise figure as low as 0.76 dB and gain > 16 dB at 5.4 GHz has been implemented using a minimum input matching network. It is believed that the noise figure of 0.76 dB is the best result ever reported to date from MMIC LNAs over this frequency range. This is attributed to the low noise performance of the PHEMT transistor and minimised parasitic resistance of the input matching network.

K/Ka-band low-noise embedded transmission line (ETL) MMIC amplifiers

The design, fabrication, and performance of producible, high-performance Kand Ka-band pHEMT low-noise MMIC amplifiers using the embedded transmission line (ETL) circuit concept with top-side grounding are reported. A state-of-the-art noise figure of 1.2 dB with 25-dB gain is achieved at 31 GHz. These amplifiers can be implemented in low-cost, ultra-compact receiver modules for emerging spaceborne phased-array communication applications.

Fully passivated W-band InAlAs/InGaAs/InP monolithic low noise amplifiers

The development of W-band monolithic low noise amplifiers (LNAs) using a fully passivated 0.1 µm pseudomorphic InAlAs/InGaAs/InP low noise HEMT technology is presented. Both wafer passivation and stabilisation bakes have been introduced, for the first time, to the InP HEMT MMIC process to make it more suitable for production. A three-stage single-ended 94 GHz monolithic LNA shows a measured noise figure of 3.3 dB and 20 dB associated gain. A measured noise figure of 2.3 dB is achieved for a single-stage MMIC LNA at 94 GHz. These results represent state-of-the-art performance of HEMT MMIC LNAs at this frequency. The effects due to SiN passivation for both HEMT device and circuit performance are also addressed.

Wideband HEMT MMIC low-noise amplifier with temperaturecompensation.

A wideband low-noise pseudomorphic HEMT MMIC variable-gain amplifier has been designed and fabricated. The amplifier has a nominal gain of 13 dB across the band 2 – 20 GHz, with gain flatness better than ±0.4 dB. The noise figure is less than 3 dB across the band 6 – 16 GHz. An on-chip temperature-sensing diode is used to provide a linear temperature correction which has been used to reduce the gain variation of the amplifier by a factor of 2 across the temperature range –50°C to + 95°C.

A high-performance monolithic Q-band InP-based HEMT low-noise amplifier

The authors report a Q-band two-stage MMIC low-noise amplifier based on 0.1- mu m pseudomorphic InAlAs-InGaAs-InP HEMT technology. The amplifier has achieved an average noise figure of 2.3 dB with associated gain of 25 dB over the band from 43 to 46 GHz. This noise figure is the best result ever reported for a monolithic amplifier at this frequency range. In addition, this InP-based amplifier consumes only 12 mW, which is at least three times lower than a GaAs-based counterpart, indicating that InP-based pseudomorphic HEMTs are well suited for very high density monolithic integration or an application where ultra-low-power consumption is required. >

Millimeter-wave imaging using preamplified diode detector

A 2-pixel imaging array was developed to demonstrate millimeter-wave imaging. Each pixel consists of a Q-band Vivaldi antenna and a preamplified diode detector, using InGaAs pseudomorphic HEMT MMIC low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) and a beam-lead Schottky-diode detector. The approach does not require local oscillator (LO) power, is compatible with MMIC technology, and can reduce the complexity and manufacturing cost of millimeter-wave imaging arrays. The preamplified diode detector exhibited 17-V/ mu W responsivity at 44 GHz and -75-dBm tangential sensitivity at 1-MHz video bandwidth. The array demonstrated millimeter-wave imaging of three vehicles in a parking lot. >

A cryogenically-cooled wide-band HEMT MMIC low-noise amplifier

A balanced single-stage wideband HEMT MMIC low-noise amplifier (LNA) was designed, fabricated, cooled to a temperature of 19 K, and evaluated from 8-18 GHz. The MMIC LNA performed without damage at all test temperatures. The amplifier gain flatness over the 8-18-GHz frequency band was maintained at both room and cryogenic temperature, indicating that the broadband design topology is relatively insensitive to operation temperature. Gain increased an average of 2 dB, while the noise temperature exhibited as much as an eightfold reduction from 160 K to 20 K at 19 K operation temperature. This is the first result on performance of a cryogenically cooled HEMT MMIC LNA. >

High-gain, V-band, low-noise MMIC amplifiers using pseudomorphic MODFETs

State-of-the-art, 60-GHz, low-noise MMICs based on pseudomorphic modulation-doped FETs, with 0.25- mu m*60- mu m gates offset 0.3 mu m from the source ohmic, are discussed. Single-state low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) exhibited minimum noise figures of 2.90 dB with 4.1 dB of associated gain at 59.25 GHz. Dual-state MMICs had minimum noise figures of 3.5 dB and 10.8 dB of associated gain at 58.50 GHz. Cascaded four-stage LNAs (two dual-stage MMICs) had minimum noise figures of 3.7 dB and over 20.7 dB of associated gain at 58.0 GHz. Finally, when biased for maximum gain, the four-stage amplifier exhibited over 30.4 dB of gain at 60.0 GHz.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

V-band GaAs MMIC low-noise and power amplifiers

GaAs MESFET amplifiers with on-chip DC-blocking and bias networks which were fabricated from both VPE and MBE materials, are reported. The low-noise designs resulted in a single-stage MMIC, low-noise amplifier achieving a 6.5-dB noise figure and a 4.1-dB gain at 59 GHz, as well as a cascaded six-stage amplifier exhibiting an 8-dB minimum noise figure and a 30-dB gain from 56.2 to 60 GHz. The single-stage power amplifier provides over 4.5 dB of gain from 57 to 60.5 GHz, with a maximum output power of 95 mW and a corresponding power-added efficiency at 11% at 58 GHz. Maximum power-added efficiency of 15.3% at 73 mW was also obtained. A cascaded four-stage amplifier demonstrated stable operation, achieving 17 dB of gain and 85 mW of output power. A two-stage balanced amplifier provided 136 mW of output power and 7.5 dB of linear gain from 56.6 to 61.5 GHz.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>