W-band Low Noise Amplifier Research Articles

A 5.9 mW E-/W-Band SiGe-HBT LNA With 48 GHz 3-dB Bandwidth and 4.5-dB Noise Figure

The theory, design, and implementation of a millimeter-wave (mm-wave) two-stage common-emitter (CE) low noise amplifier (LNA) using a 130-nm silicon-germanium (SiGe):C Bipolar CMOS technology is presented. The LNA was optimized for wideband performance from 62 to 110 GHz for both mm-wave radar/sensing and wireless communication applications. A two-stage broadband noise and impedance matching technique is used to obtain a relativity flat gain (13.5 dB) and noise figure (NF) (4.5 dB) across the E-/W-band. Low-voltage <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$(V_{\text {CC}}=0.7\,\,\text {V})$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and low-power (5.9 mW) operation is achieved by forward biasing the base–collector junction, while the wideband capability is further improved by a T-type input matching network utilizing constant quality factor curves. To the best of authors’ knowledge, the presented LNA has the widest 3-dB bandwidth with the lowest power consumption in the literature for silicon-based E-/W-band LNAs.

Performance Assessment of W-Band Radiometers: Direct versus Heterodyne Detections

W-Band radiometers using intermediate frequency down-conversion (super-heterodyne) and direct detection are compared. Both receivers consist of two W-band low noise amplifiers and an 80-to-101 GHz filter, which conforms to the reception frequency band, in the front-end module. The back-end module of the first receiver comprises a subharmonic mixer, intermediate frequency (IF) amplification and a square-law detector. For direct detection, a W-Band detector replaces the mixer and the intermediate frequency detection stages. The performance of the whole receivers has been simulated requiring special techniques, based on data from the experimental characterization of each subsystem. In the super-heterodyne implementation a local oscillator at 27.1 GHz (with 8 dBm) with a x3 frequency multiplier is used, exhibiting an overall conversion gain around 48 dB, a noise figure around 4 dB, and an effective bandwidth over 10 GHz. In the direct detection scheme, slightly better noise performance is obtained, with a wider bandwidth, around 20 GHz, since there is no IF bandwidth limitation (~15 GHz), and even using the same 80-to-101 GHz filter, the detector can operate through the whole W-band. Moreover, W-band detector has higher sensitivity than the IF detector, increasing slightly the gain. In both cases, the receiver performance is characterized when a broadband noise input signal is applied. The radiometer characteristics have been obtained working as a total power radiometer and as a Dicke radiometer when an optical chopper is used to modulate the incoming signal. Combining this particular super-heterodyne or direct detection topologies and total power or Dicke modes of operation, four different cases are compared and discussed, achieving similar sensitivities, but better performances in terms of equivalent bandwidth and noise for the direct detection radiometer. It should be noted that this conclusion comes from a particular set of components, which we could consider as typical, but we cannot exclude other conclusions for different components, particularly for different mixers and detectors.

System-on-chip upgrade of millimeter-wave imaging diagnostics for fusion plasma.

Monolithic, millimeter wave "system-on-chip" technology has been employed in chip heterodyne radiometers in a newly developed Electron Cyclotron Emission Imaging (ECEI) system on the DIII-D tokamak for 2D electron temperature and fluctuation diagnostics. The system employs 20 horn-waveguide receiver modules each with customized W-band (75-110GHz) monolithic microwave integrated circuit chips comprising a W-band low noise amplifier, a balanced mixer, a ×2 local oscillator (LO) frequency doubler, and two intermediate frequency amplifier stages in each module. Compared to previous quasi-optical ECEI arrays with Schottky mixer diodes mounted on planar antennas, the upgraded W-band array exhibits >30 dB additional gain and 20× improvement in noise temperature; an internal eight times multiplier chain is used to provide LO coupling, thereby eliminating the need for quasi-optical coupling. The horn-waveguide shielding housing avoids out-of-band noise interference on each module. The upgraded ECEI system plays an important role for absolute electron temperature and fluctuation measurements for edge and core region transport physics studies. An F-band receiver chip (up to 140GHz) is under development for additional fusion facilities with a higher toroidal magnetic field. Visualization diagnostics provide multi-scale and multi-dimensional data in plasma profile evolution. A significant aspect of imaging measurement is focusing on artificial intelligence for science applications.

Design of E- and W-Band Low-Noise Amplifiers in 22-nm CMOS FD-SOI

This article presents E- and W-band low-noise amplifiers (LNA) in GlobalFoundries 22-nm CMOS fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI). Both amplifiers employ a three-stage cascode design with gain-boosting transformer loads. Design procedures are presented for E- and W-band LNAs for narrowband and wideband applications. The E-band LNA focuses on a high-gain, low-power implementation, and results in a gain and noise figure (NF) of 20 and 4.6 dB at 77 GHz with a 3-dB bandwidth of 12 GHz, and an input P1dB of −27.4 dBm, for a power consumption of 9 mW. The W-band LNA focuses on wideband applications and results in a peak gain of 18.2 dB with a 3-dB bandwidth of 31 GHz, for a power consumption of 16 mW. The LNAs have a high figure-of-merit (FoM) and show very low-power operation in the 70–100 GHz range. Application areas are in phased arrays for 5G with hundreds or thousands of elements, automotive radars at 77 GHz, and sensors at 94 GHz.

Design of Broadband W-Band Waveguide Package and Application to Low Noise Amplifier Module

In this paper, the broadband millimeter-wave waveguide package, which can cover the entire W-band (75–110 GHz) is presented and applied to build a low noise amplifier module. For this purpose, a broadband waveguide-to-microstrip transition was designed using an extended E-plane probe in a low-loss and thin dielectric substrate. The end of the probe substrate was firmly fixed on to the waveguide wall in order to minimize the performance degradation caused by the probable bending of the substrate. In addition, we predicted and analyzed in-band resonances by the simulations that are caused by the empty spaces in the waveguide package to accommodate integrated circuits (ICs) and external bias circuits. These resonances are removed by designing an asymmetrical bias space structure with a radiation boundary at an external bias connection plane. The bond-wires, which are used to connect the ICs with the transition, can generate impedance mismatches and limit the bandwidth performance of the waveguide package. Their effect is carefully compensated for by designing the broadband two-section matching circuits in the transition substrate. Finally, the broadband waveguide package is designed using a commercial three-dimensional electromagnetic structure simulator and applied to build a W-band low noise amplifier module. The measurement of the back-to-back connected waveguide-to-microstrip transition including the empty spaces for the ICs and bias circuits showed the insertion loss less than 3.5 dB and return loss higher than 13.3 dB across the entire W-band without any in-band resonances. The measured insertion loss includes the losses of 8.7 mm-long microstrip line and 41.8 mm-long waveguide section. The designed waveguide package was utilized to build the low noise amplifier module that had a measured gain greater than 14.9 dB from 75 GHz to 105 GHz (&gt;12.9 dB at the entire W-band) and noise figure less than 4.4 dB from 93.5 GHz to 94.5 GHz.

A full W-band low noise amplifier module for millimeter-wave applications**Project supported by the Major Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61434006) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61401457).

A full W-band low noise amplifier (LNA) module is designed and fabricated. A broadband transition is introduced in this module. The proposed transition is designed, optimized based on the results from numerical simulations. The results show that 1 dB bandwidth of the transition ranges from 61 to 117 GHz. For the purpose of verification, two transitions in back-to-back connection are measured. The results show that transmission loss is only about 0.9–1.7 dB. This transition is used to interface integrated circuits to waveguide components. The characteristic of the LNA module is measured after assembly. It exhibits a broad bandwidth of 75 to 110 GHz, and has a small signal gain above 21 dB. The noise figure is lower than 5.2 dB throughout the entire W-band (below 3 dB from 89 to 95 GHz) at room temperature. The proposed LNA module exhibits potential for millimeter wave applications due to its high small signal gain, low noise, and low DC power consumption.

AN ultra-wideband SiGe BiCMOS LNA for W-band applications

This article presents the design steps and implementation of a W-band ultra-wideband low noise amplifier (LNA) for both automotive and imaging applications. Three amplifiers based on common-emitter topology with different configurations are manufactured using IHP 0.13 mu m SiGe BiCMOS 300/500 GHz (f(t)/f(max)) SG13G2 technology. A three-stage single-ended structure is proposed for ultra-wideband imaging purposes. As the results are analyzed, this 0.2 mm(2) LNA can operate in a 25 GHz of measured 3-dB bandwidth in W-band with 21 dB peak gain and 4.9 dB average noise figure using 1.5 V supply voltage. It consumes 50 mW of power in the edge operation conditions and the output 1 dB compression point is found as -4 dBm. To the authors' knowledge, this chip achieves one of the best overall performances compared to other W-band LNAs.

32 dB Gain 28 nm Bulk CMOS W-Band LNA

A high gain W-band low noise amplifier for radiometric applications in 28 nm bulk CMOS technology is presented. Pads, inductors, capacitors and coplanar waveguides have been custom designed. The parasitic effects of the transistor layout have been evaluated by means of electromagnetic simulations and calculations based on data reported in the design rule manual of the technology. The amplifier consists of six cascode stages with input, output and interstage conjugate matching for maximum power transfer. Measurement results show a peak gain of 32 dB and a noise figure of 5.3 dB at 91 GHz.

A Wire Bonding Structure Directly Based on Substrate Integrated Waveguide Technology

When integrating an integrated circuit (IC) chip with a substrate integrated waveguide (SIW), the usual practice is first to convert the SIW to a microstrip, and then make wire bonding between the IC Chip and the microstrip. Consequently, the transition between the SIW and microstrip will enlarge the circuit size and introduce extra loss. In this letter, a novel wire bonding structure directly between the SIW and IC Chip is proposed, which not only reduced the circuit size and loss but also weakened the sensitivity etc. Two W-band low noise amplifier (LNA) prototypes are designed and fabricated with and without SIW-to-Microstrip transitions, respectively. Compared with the microstrip wire bonding structure, the direct SIW wire bonding structure efficiently reduced the circuit size and improved the performance.

5.8 dBm P 1 dB , high gain W-band low-noise amplifier using high breakdown voltage InP/InGaAs DHBT technology

A five-stage W-band low-noise amplifier (LNA) based on the authors' InP/InGaAs double heterojunction bipolar transistors (DHBTs) process is reported. The LNA achieves a peak gain of 33.1 dB and 7.8 dB noise figure at 81GHz. Its output-related 1 dB compression point (P1dB) lies at 5.8 dBm. The high gain and linearity of the LNA is mainly attributed to the performance of the DHBTs exhibiting a high breakdown voltage (BVceo>8.7V), a current gain cutoff frequency (fT) of 167GHz, and a maximum oscillation frequency (fmax) of 265GHz.

W-Band Sb-Diode Detector MMICs for Passive Millimeter Wave Imaging

A W-band monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC), including an Sb-heterostructure diode on a GaAs substrate, has been demonstrated. The MMIC also includes the RF choke and output shorting capacitor essential to detector circuits. Additional input matching has yielded peak sensitivities on the order of 10 000 V/W and equivalent bandwidths of 40 GHz. Using these circuits in conjunction with current W-band low-noise amplifier technology can achieve the sub-1degK noise equivalent temperature difference necessary for producing discernible images with W-band passive imaging cameras.

In As ∕ Al Sb high-electron-mobility transistors by molecular-beam epitaxy for low-power applications

In As ∕ Al Sb high-electron-mobility transistor technology has transitioned from research to development stages in recent years. Development efforts at Northrop Grumman Space Technology, in collaboration with the Naval Research Laboratory and the University of California, Los Angeles, have focused on X-band and W-band low-noise amplifier monolithic millimeter-wave integrated circuits fabricated for applications requiring ultralow-power dissipation. The materials for the circuits discussed in this article were grown at Northrop Grumman Space Technology on 3-in.-diameter semi-insulating GaAs substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy. Atomic-force microscopy of the as-grown surface on each wafer showed that the rms roughness for all of the wafers ranged between 0.5 and 3.5nm, and this range of roughness was fully compatible with the fabrication process. The high electron mobility that InAs can provide was achieved reproducibly in these materials. It was maintained almost always above 25000cm2V−1s−1, and in several cases even exceeded 30000cm2V−1s−1. The associated electron sheet concentration ranged between 1.2×1012 and 1.8×1012cm−2. These combined mobilities and sheet concentrations gave corresponding sheet resistances in the range of 170±40Ω∕sq, with nonuniformity below 6% over these 3-in.-diameter wafers. These materials characteristics enabled successful fabrication of several recently published X-band and W-band low-noise amplifier circuits, and figures of merit for the circuits that were made specifically from these materials are referenced in this article.

Low-power W-band CPWG InAs/AlSb HEMT low-noise amplifier

We present the development of a low-power W-band low-noise amplifier (LNA) designed in a 200-nm InAs/AlSb high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) technology fabricated on a 50-mum GaAs substrate. A single-stage coplanar waveguide with ground (CPWG) LNA is described. The LNA exhibits a noise figure of 2.5 dB and an associated gain of 5.6 dB at 90 GHz while consuming 2.0 mW of total dc power. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the lowest reported noise figure for an InAs/AlSb HEMT LNA at 90 GHz. Biased for maximum gain, the single-stage amplifier presents 6.7-dB gain and an output 1-dB gain compression point (P1dB) of -6.7dBm at 90 GHz. The amplifier provides broad-band gain, greater than 5dB over the entire W-band

A 75 GHz to 115 GHz quasi-optical amplifier

A wideband quasi-optical amplifier employing two pyramidal back-to-back horns has been developed. Using a four-stage W-band low noise amplifier (LNA) designed and fabricated by Martin Marietta Laboratories, the quasi-optical amplifier gives a system gain greater than 11 dB from 86 GHz to 113 GHz without any low frequency oscillations. A peak system gain of 15.5 dB is measured at 102 GHz, and the measured noise figure of the system is 7.4 dB at 94 GHz. The quasi-optical amplifier design maintains the same polarization of the received and transmitted signal, provides better than -40 dB isolation, and can be fabricated monolithically at millimeter-wave frequencies.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

High gain monolithic W-band low noise amplifiers based on pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistors

Five versions of monolithic W-band 0.1 /spl mu/m AlGaAs-InGaAs-GaAs pseudomorphic HEMT, four-stage, low noise amplifiers based on two different designs were developed. These millimeter wave monolithic integrated circuits have produced a minimum noise figure of 3.5 dB with 23.0 dB gain at 92 GHz and a maximum gain of 33.5 dB with a 6.2 dB noise figure at 102 GHz. This is the highest gain yet reported for a single chip W-band amplifier. The chips feature coplanar waveguide circuit elements and compact size for low-cost production, single-polarity bias requirement, and a minimum of DC bonding pads.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>