Measured Noise Figure Research Articles

Automatic golden device selection and measurement smoothing algorithms for microwave transistor small-signal noise modeling

AbstractWe propose the techniques for automatic processing of measurement results in the context of golden (typical) device selection and noise figure measurement. These techniques are for golden (typical) device selection and noise figure measurement processing. Automation of measurement result processing and microwave element modeling speeds up a modeling routine and decreases the risk of possible errors. The techniques are validated through modeling of 0.15 μm GaAs pHEMTs with 4 × 40 μm and 4 × 75 μm total gate widths. Two test amplifiers were designed using the developed models. The amplifier modeling results agree well with measurements which confirms the validity of the proposed techniques. The proposed algorithm is potentially applicable to other circuit types (switches, digital, power amplifiers, mixers, oscillators, etc.) but may require different settings in those cases. However, in the presented work, we validated the algorithm for the linear and low-noise amplifiers only.

A compact Ka‐band limiter‐low noise amplifier MMIC with high power capability

AbstractThis paper presents a 30–36 GHz limiter low‐noise amplifier (limiter‐LNA) MMIC for high power and high mobility millimeter‐wave radar systems. The PIN‐diode limiter network and the LNA are codesigned to realize high input‐power handling capability, good small‐signal performance, and small chip area. A two‐state matching capacitor is presented to improve both the input‐power handling capability at the high input‐power level and the input return loss at the small‐signal level. The proposed circuit is fabricated with a combined PIN/0.15‐µm‐GaAs‐pHEMT process. The limiter‐LNA is capable of handling 39 dBm continuous wave (CW) input‐power without failure with only two limiter stages. The measured noise figure is 1.8–2.5 dB, the small‐signal gain is 18.5 ± 0.5 dB, the output power at 1 dB compression point is larger than 11 dBm, and the dc power consumption is 72 mW. The chip area, including testing pads, is only 2.1 mm × 1.0 mm. This limiter‐LNA MMIC is believed to have the highest input‐power handling capability and smallest chip area among limiter‐LNA MMICs at this frequency range reported up to date.

A CMOS 24–30-GHz Low-Phase-Variation Variable Gain Amplifier Design for 5G New Radio

This letter presents a 24–30-GHz variable gain amplifier (VGA) achieving low-phase variation in a standard RF 65-nm CMOS process. The proposed VGA employs two stages. Phase compensation during the gain variation is realized with the dynamic complementary phase variation at the first stage. The second stage is utilized to increase the gain and keep linearity. Measurement results prove that the proposed VGA achieves a continuous gain tuning range of 8.3 dB. Under this condition, low-phase variation is realized with the root-mean-square (RMS) phase error less than 3° from 24 to 30 GHz. Moreover, the RMS phase error is less than 2° at the desired 5G frequency band from 27.5 to 29.5 GHz. The peak gain is measured with 18.7 dB at 29 GHz. With the max gain setting, the measured OP_1dB and OIP₃ are 5.1 and 9.3 dBm, respectively, and the measured noise figure is from 4.6 to 6.8 dB at the frequency range from 24 to 30 GHz.

A 7.2–27.3 GHz CMOS LNA With 3.51 ±0.21 dB Noise Figure Using Multistage Noise Matching Technique

A wideband low-noise amplifier (LNA) with low and flat noise figure (NF) is presented in this article. For conventional wideband noise matching, the noise performance in the high-frequency region of the entire wideband is usually deteriorated due to the frequency-dependent nature of the minimum noise figure (NF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">min</sub> ) for a MOSFET. To address this issue, a novel wideband noise matching approach aiming at noise matching in high band is proposed. This approach can reduce the NF in high band at the cost of a slight NF increase in low band, eventually achieving a low and flat NF and thus a better overall noise performance for a wideband LNA. In addition, the multistage noise matching technique is employed at high frequencies to further reduce the NF caused by the second amplification stage. To validate the proposed techniques, a two-stage LNA prototype was designed and fabricated using a 65 nm CMOS process. The experimental results indicate a peak gain of 16.6 dB with a −3 dB bandwidth (BW) from 7.2 to 27.3 GHz (a fractional BW of 116%). Within the entire band of interest, the simulated NF is low and almost constant (3.3–3.4 dB), while the measured NF falls within the range of 3.30–3.72 dB. Considering the uncertainty of NF measurement, a 0.21 dB NF flatness is one of the best results among the reported millimeter-wave wideband LNAs. The measured third-order input intercept point (IIP3) is −6 dBm at 20 GHz, while the power consumption is 13.2 mW. In addition, only two passive transformers are used in this design, leading to a compact chip core area (0.14 mm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> ).

A 24–44 GHz Broadband Transmit–Receive Front End in 0.13-μm SiGe BiCMOS for Multistandard 5G Applications

In this article, a novel broadband millimeter-wave (mm-wave) front end (FE) based on the asymmetric switch network structure is proposed for multistandard fifth-generation (5G) applications. The asymmetric switch network consists of a bidirectional impedance transformation network and a T-type topology single-pole single-throw (SPST) switch. In the TX-mode, the bidirectional impedance transformation network serves as an output matching network to achieve a continuous-mode Class-F <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-1</sup> power amplifier (PA) to expand the bandwidth. In the RX-mode, the OFF impedance of the PA can be transformed into a high-impedance region by the bidirectional impedance transformation network. Based on the proposed structure, a broadband mm-wave front end is implemented in the 0.13- μm SiGe BiCMOS process, which occupies 906 μm ×997 μm including pads. In the TX-mode, the -1-dB P <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">sat</sub> bandwidth of the FE covers 21-44 GHz with the maximum output power of 18.1-19 dBm and the peak power added efficiency (PAE) of 20.2%-26.8%. In the RX-mode, the FE achieves an 84.6% and -3-dB small-signal gain fractional bandwidth from 20.2 to 49.8 GHz with 38-mW power consumption. It achieves a measured noise figure (NF) of 7.62-11.64 dB over the frequency range of 24-48 GHz. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first FE that covers all the present 5G mm-wave bands without reconfiguration.

Active Balun with Center-Tapped Inductor and Double-Balanced Gilbert Mixer for GNSS Applications

A new 1.575 GHz active balun with a classic double-balanced Gilbert mixer for global navigation satellite systems is proposed herein. A simple, low-noise amplifier architecture is used with a center-tapped inductor to generate a differential signal equal in amplitude and shifted in phase by 180°. The main advantage of the proposed circuit is that the phase shift between the outputs is always equal to 180°, with an accuracy of ±5°, and the gain difference between the balun outputs does not change by more than 1.5 dB. This phase shift and gain difference between the outputs are also preserved for all process corners, as well as temperature and voltage supply variations. In the balun design, a band calibration system based on a switchable capacitor bank is proposed. The balun and mixer were designed with a 110 nm CMOS process, consuming only a 2.24 mA current from a 1.5 V supply. The measured noise figure and conversion gain of the balun and mixer were, respectively, NF = 7.7 dB and GC = 25.8 dB in the band of interest.

Concurrent design of Schottky diode limiter and LNA

In this paper concurrent design of Schottky diode based limiter and low noise amplifier (LNA), based on noise matching, is investigated to achieve minimum noise figure (NF) of the receiver chain. In design procedure of the LNA, the noise figure is minimum, gain at central frequency is 14.5 dB, and limiter structure tolerates up to 5 W continuous wave input power. In the proposed concurrent design, a pass-band filter is applied at the LNA output to attenuate undesired out-of-band signals. In the proposed design, the limiter-LNA is implemented with a 0.25 µm gate length AlGaAs/InGaAs pHEMT process. Measured noise figure of chain is 2.7 dB and average gain over 8.5–9.5 GHz frequency range and the gain at 9 GHz center frequency are 10 dB and 14.5 dB respectively. The performance results of proposed matching network are compared with traditional 50 Ω matching networks in limiter-LNA with identical circuit specifications.

A Broadband Zero-IF Down-Conversion Mixer in 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS for Beyond 5G Communication Systems in D-Band

This brief presents a broadband D-band down-conversion mixer in a cost efficient 130nm SiGe BiCMOS technology with a f <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">t</sub> /f <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">max</sub> of 250/370GHz from Infineon Technologies AG. The proposed mixer covers the entire D-band with a 32dB peak conversion gain and a 3dB bandwidth of 35GHz at a measured noise figure between 9.5 and 12dB in the specified band while consuming only 65mW DC power. To achieve large RF and IF bandwidths and a low noise figure, the mixer design is based on a low-biased switching quad, which is loaded with a modified Cherry-Hooper transimpedance amplifier. The results, which are verified by measurements, are based on a detailed analysis of the transistor characteristics, broadband matching networks and an appropriate layout parasitic extraction. All interfaces to the circuit are designed single-ended for a dense chip-to-package transition. For this purpose, high performance Marchand baluns are used at RF- and LO-port, respectively. With a moderate noise figure and a low power consumption, the presented circuit meets the requirements for beyond 5G systems.

Linear Characterization and Modeling of GaN-on-Si HEMT Technologies with 100 nm and 60 nm Gate Lengths

Motivated by the growing interest towards low-cost, restriction-free MMIC processes suitable for multi-function, possibly space-qualified applications, this contribution reports the extraction of reliable linear models for two advanced GaN-on-Si HEMT technologies, namely OMMIC’s D01GH (100 nm gate length) and D006GH (60 nm gate length). This objective is pursued by means of both classical and more novel approaches. In particular, the latter include a nondestructive method for determining the extrinsic resistances and an optimizaion-based approach to extracting the remaining parasitic elements: these support standard DC and RF measurements in order to obtain a scalable, bias-dependent equivalent-circuit model capturing the small-signal behavior of the two processes. As to the noise model, this is extracted by applying the well known noise-temperature approach to noise figure measurements performed in two different frequency ranges: a lower band, where a standard Y-factor test bench is used, and an upper band, where a custom cold-source test bench is set up and described in great detail. At 5 V drain-source voltage, minimum noise figures as low as 1.5 dB and 1.1 dB at 40 GHz have been extracted for the considered 100 nm and 60 nm HEMTs, respectively: this testifies the maturity of both processes and the effectiveness of the gate length reduction. The characterization and modeling campaign, here presented for the first time, has been repeatedly validated by published designs, a couple of which are reviewed for the Reader’s convenience.

Variable-Temperature Noise Characterization of N-MOSFETs Using an In-Situ Broadband Amplifier

Characterization of broadband noise of MOSFETs from room temperature down to 120 K in fine temperature steps is presented. A MOSFET is mounted on a reusable printed circuit board vehicle with a built-in low-noise amplifier, and the vehicle is loaded into a cryogenic chamber. The vehicle allows noise measurement in the frequency range from 50 kHz to 100 MHz. At low frequencies, it enables extraction of activation energies associated with electron trapping sites. At high frequencies, as has been suggested by noise figure measurements, the white noise of MOSFETs is shown to be dominated by the shot noise, which has much weaker temperature dependence than the thermal noise. The shot noise will be a problematic noise source in broadband RF CMOS circuits operating at cryogenic temperatures.

SiGe HBTs and BiCMOS Technology for Present and Future Millimeter-Wave Systems

This paper gives an overall picture from BiCMOS technologies up to THz systems integration, which were developed in the European Research project TARANTO. The European high performance BiCMOS technology platforms are presented, which have special advantages for addressing applications in the submillimeter-wave and THz range. The status of the technology process is reviewed and the integration challenges are examined. A detailed discussion on millimeter-wave characterization and modeling is given with emphasis on harmonic distortion analysis, power and noise figure measurements up to 190 GHz and 325 GHz respectively and S-parameter measurements up to 500 GHz. The results of electrical compact models of active (HBTs) and passive components are presented together with benchmark circuit blocks for model verification. BiCMOS-enabled systems and applications with focus on future wireless communication systems and high-speed optical transmission systems up to resulting net data rates of 1.55 Tbit/s are presented.

A 21-to-41-GHz High-Gain Low Noise Amplifier With Triple-Coupled Technique for Multiband Wireless Applications

This brief presents a wideband millimeter-wave (mm-Wave) low noise amplifier (LNA) with a triple-coupled technique for multiband wireless applications. To enlarge the gain and reduce the supply voltage, a modified cascode topology exploiting a triple-coupled transformer is developed. Thanks to the transformer, the transconductance of the common-gate (CG) transistor of the cascode topology is also effectively boosted, and hence the gain is further increased. Furthermore, high-order networks, which are realized by combinations of π- and T/L-type structures or transformers, are employed to implement the input, inter-stage, and output impedance matchings. They significantly broaden the bandwidth of the circuit. The LNA is demonstrated using a commercial 65-nm CMOS process. The measurement results show that the circuit achieves a maximum gain of 28.5 dB and a 3-dB gain bandwidth of 20 GHz with 32-mW dc power consumption ( P <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">dc</sub> ). The measured noise figure (NF) and input 1-dB gain compression point ( IP <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1dB</sub> ) are 2.7~3.2 dB and -24.6~-20.4 dBm, respectively, over the entire operating bandwidth.

Design of RF Receiver Front end Subsystems with Low Noise Amplifier and Active Mixer for Intelligent Transportation Systems Application

This paper presents the design, simulation, and characterization of a novel low-noise amplifier (LNA) and active mixer for intelligent transportation system applications. A low noise amplifier is the key component of RF receiver systems. Design, simulation, and characterization of LNA have been performed to obtain the optimum value of noise figure, gain and reflection coefficient. Proposed LNA achieves measured voltage gains of ~18 dB, reflection coefficients of -20 dB, and noise figures of ~2 dB at 5.9 GHz, respectively. The active mixer is a better choice for a modern receiver system over a passive mixer. Key sight advanced design system in conjunction with the electromagnetic simulation tool, has been to obtain the optimal conversion gain and noise figure of the active mixer. The lower and upper resonant frequencies of mixer have been obtained at 2.45 GHz and 5.25 GHz, respectively. The measured conversion gains at lower and upper frequencies are 12 dB and 10.2 dB, respectively. The measured noise figures at lower and upper frequencies are 5.8 dB and 6.5 dB, respectively. The measured mixer interception point at lower and upper frequencies are 3.9 dBm and 4.2 dBm.

Multi-Feed Antenna and Electronics Co-Design: An E-Band Antenna-LNA Front End With On-Antenna Noise-Canceling and Gₘ-Boosting

This article presents an E-band low-noise amplifier (LNA) co-designed and co-integrated with an on-chip multifeed antenna for antenna-level LNA noise-canceling and gm -boosting. Different from conventional approaches that view antennas as a simple 50-Ω radiation load, we exploit antennas as multi-feed passive radiating networks with direct onantenna signal conditioning and processing capabilities. Such an antenna-electronics co-design concept can potentially advance wireless front-end performance beyond electronics-only designs and opens the door to a plethora of front-end innovations. We also propose equivalent circuits to model multi-feed antenna systems and elucidate on-antenna signal processing operations. As a proof of concept, we propose an antenna-LNA co-designed architecture and explore the interactions among a common-gate (CG) LNA path, a common-source (CS) LNA path, and a pair of near-field coupled folded slot antennas for on-antenna noise-cancellation and g <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">m</sub> -boosting. In the measurements, a true V-factor radiation method is introduced as a new approach to measure the noise figure (NF) of the on-chip multi-feed antenna and LNA/RX integration. Then, we perform the conventional sensitivity-based NF measurement. Both measurements show accurate and consistent NF characterization at high millimeter-wave (mm-Wave). The E-band antenna-LNA front end is implemented in the Globalfoundries 45-nm CMOS SOI process and demonstrates 4.8-dB NF with 2.2-dBm IIP <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> , achieving the best reported FoM at similar frequencies. Furthermore, over-the-air modulation tests are demonstrated, supporting >10-Gb/s high-fidelity high-order QAM signals over an E-band wireless link.

InGaAs MOSHEMT W-Band LNAs on Silicon and Gallium Arsenide Substrates

This letter presents the design, performance, and analysis of four low-noise amplifier (LNA) monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) operating in ${W}$ -band. Two LNA designs were fabricated in two variations of a 20-nm gate-length metal–oxide–semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistor (MOSHEMT) technology each. While for the first technology version the heterostructure is directly grown on the final gallium arsenide (GaAs) wafer, the second version uses direct wafer bonding to transfer the III–V heterostructure after the epitaxial growth to a silicon (Si) substrate. Based on the measured noise figure (NF) of the four MMICs over a comprehensive set of bias conditions, the impact of short-channel effects on the RF performance and possible improvements are analyzed. The first LNA covers an octave bandwidth with more than 15 dB of gain and an average NF (75–105 GHz) of 3.5 dB on a Si substrate. At 80 GHz, the second amplifier exhibits minimal NFs of 2.3 and 2.5 dB on GaAs and Si substrates, respectively. Compared to previously reported MOS- or Si-based technologies, the presented LNAs demonstrate state-of-the-art noise performance emphasizing the importance of electron confinement for highly scaled transistor technologies.

300-GHz Intermodulation/Noise Characterization Enabled by a Single THz Photonics Source

In this letter, we present the first use of a terahertz (THz) photonic-driven source toward active circuit characterization. We show that a single source can be used for intermodulation points and noise figure measurement. The method is applied at 300 GHz with a HEMT technology-based low noise amplifier (LNA). We show that the third and fifth intermodulation behavior at 300 GHz can be extracted taking advantage of the linearity of the THz photonic devices. Here, the millimeter-wave/THz source is an unitraveling carrier photodiode (UTC-PD) used either as a signal generator with two-tones or as a noise source.

Dual Q/V-Band SiGe BiCMOS Low Noise Amplifiers Using Q-Enhanced Metamaterial Transmission Lines

This brief presents two dual-band low noise amplifiers (LNAs) in Q/V-band fabricated in 0.18-μm SiGe BiCMOS technology. The developed LNAs function over the dual (44/60 GHz)-band with an integrated filtering function and achieve peak power gain of 19.1 dB with minimal gain imbalance of less than 0.2 dB between the two bands. The achieved 3-dB bandwidths are more than 6 GHz for each band of the two LNAs with the lowest measured noise figure of 5.6 dB in the targeted frequency bands. The synthesized Q-enhanced metamaterial transmission line structures proposed in this brief contribute a dual-band operation at 44/60 GHz with a rejection of more than 30 dB between the two bands. The Colpitts style negative generation circuit is utilized in conjunction with composite right/left-handed metamaterial transmission line and its dual structure, which is unprecedented, to realize multi-band millimeter-wave integrated circuits.

How (and why) to determine NMR spectrometer’s noise figure?

Abstract In the last decade or two, it seems that the trend of technological advance in NMR spectroscopy cannot follow the trend of desire to measure NMR samples with gradually lower response signals. Recently, an accurate noise model, based on the concept of noise figure, of the most sensitive part of the NMR spectroscopy system from the aspect of noise, which is its probe-to-spectrometer receiving chain, was introduced. The main purpose of this model is to optimize the used NMR spectroscopy system and, ultimately, enable measuring NMR samples with even lower response signals than the ones measured today. All the parameters of the NMR spectroscopy system, used in the introduced model, can be easily measured using vector network analyzers and noise figure meters, or can be found in the datasheets of the respective elements, except the spectrometer’s receiving chain noise figure. In this contribution, the process of spectrometer’s receiving chain noise figure measurement, performed using the Twice Power Method, is described. A block diagram representation of the spectrometer’s receiving chain is presented here, as well as its approximative model. The respective noise figure measurement results, which are also presented, explain the general tendency of using the mid-range of the spectrometer’s gain control level when performing the actual NMR measurements.

G-Band Radar for Humidity and Cloud Remote Sensing

VIPR (vapor in-cloud profiling radar) is a tunable G-band radar designed for humidity and cloud remote sensing. VIPR uses all-solid-state components and operates in a frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar mode, offering a transmit power of 200-300 mW. Its typical chirp bandwidth of 10 MHz over a center-frequency tuning span of 167-174.8 GHz results in a nominal range resolution of 15 m. The radar's measured noise figure over the transmit band is between 7.4 and 10.4 dB, depending on its frequency and hardware configuration, and its calculated antenna gain is 58 dB. These parameters mean that with typical 1 ms chirp times, single-pulse cloud reflectivities as low as -26 dBZ are detectable with unity signal-to-noise at 5 km. Experimentally, radar returns from ice clouds above 10 km in height have been observed from the ground. VIPR's absolute sensitivity was validated using a spherical metal target in the radar antenna's far-field, and a G-band switch has been implemented in an RF calibration loop for periodic recalibration. The radar achieves high sensitivity with thermal noise limited detection both by virtue of its low-noise RF architecture and by using a quasioptical duplexing method that preserves ultrahigh transmit/receive isolation despite operation in an FMCW mode with a single primary antenna shared by the transmitter and receiver.

High-Frequency Noise Characterization and Modeling of Graphene Field-Effect Transistors

This article presents the small-signal and noise characterization of different technologies based on chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and silicon-carbide (SiC) graphene field-effect transistors (GFETs). The noise model, built on noise figure measurements under $50~\Omega $ using the F50 method, was verified by additional source-pull measurements, with special care for the GFET stability. The four noise parameters were then extracted by using the validated F50 model up to 18 GHz, and the correlations between noise and small-signal parameters were shown for two different configurations: top-gated and back-gated GFETs.