M. Barsky

High-gain 150-215-GHz MMIC amplifier with integral waveguide transitions

The design and measured results of a six-stage InP monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifier with 20/spl plusmn/6 dB gain from 150 to 215 GHz is reported. The MMIC has integral probes for direct coupling to 140-220 GHz WR5 waveguide without bond wires or external transitions. This is the first amplifier operating above 140 GHz with sufficient gain to be useful as a single-chip amplifier and demonstrates the practicality of MMIC-based systems in this frequency range for use in radiometry, compact radars, and communication systems.

A 95-GHz InP HEMT MMIC amplifier with 427-mW power output

We have established a state-of-the-art InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMT MMIC fabrication process for millimeter-wave high-power applications. A two-stage monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifier with 0.15-μm gate length and 1.28-mm output periphery fabricated using this process has demonstrated an output power of 427 mW with 19% power-added efficiency at 95 GHz. To our knowledge, this is the highest output power ever reported at this frequency for any solid-state MMIC amplifier.

Demonstration of Sub-Millimeter Wave Fundamental Oscillators Using 35-nm InP HEMT Technology

In this letter, 254-, 314-, and 346-GHz fundamental oscillators are demonstrated. These are the highest frequency oscillators using three-terminal devices reported to date. The performance is enabled through a 35-nm InP HEMT process with maximum frequency of oscillation (fmax) of 600GHz. These first-pass designs use coplanar waveguide (CPW) technology and include on-chip resonator and output matching. The maximum available gain (MAG) of these devices has been measured to be ~9.6dB at 200GHz

An InP HEMT MMIC LNA with 7.2-dB gain at 190 GHz

We present the highest frequency performance of any solid-state monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifier. A 2-stage 80-nm gate length InGaAs/InAlAs/InP HEMT MMIC balanced amplifier has a measured on-wafer peak gain of 7.2 dB at 190 GHz and greater than 5 dB gain from 170 to 194 GHz. The circuit was fabricated using a pseudomorphic 20-nm In/sub 0.65/Ga/sub 0.35/As channel HEMT structure grown on a 3-in InP substrate by MBE. Based on the measured circuit results, the intrinsic exhibits an F/sub max/ greater than 400 GHz.

D-band MMIC LNAs with 12 dB gain at 155 GHz fabricated on a high yield InP HEMT MMIC production process

We have developed a highly robust, high performance 0.1 /spl mu/m passivated InP HEMT MMIC process with frequency capability up to 200 GHz and beyond. This process has demonstrated consistent wafer to wafer performance as well as remarkable uniformity with a wafer average Gmp of 1100 mS/mm /spl plusmn/44 mS for more than 1000 sites tested over a 2 inch diameter wafer. We report a D-band InP HEMT MMIC LNA using this process which has demonstrated 12 dB gain at 155 GHz. This represents the highest frequency solid-state amplifier ever reported to date.

A 183 GHz low noise amplifier module with 5.5 dB noise figure for the conical-scanning microwave imager sounder (CMIS) program

We present the development of a low noise amplifier (LNA) module which demonstrates gain >24 dB and noise figure (NF)<5.5 dB at 183 GHz. Our previous results reported NF<8.3 dB [1], This improvement was achieved by inserting a single-ended microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) LNA utilizing TRWs 0.08 /spl mu/m gate InP MMIC technology. This paper discusses the development of the new MMIC LNA, reviews the previous results and presents the new data that was obtained,.

An indium phosphide MMIC amplifier for 180-205 GHz

This paper describes a high-performance indium phosphide (InP) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifier, which has been developed for application in radioastronomy and imaging-array receivers. Implemented using coplanar waveguide, the six-stage amplifier exhibits 15 db gain, 10 dB input and output return loss, and low noise figure over the 180-205 GHz frequency range. Only one design pass was needed to obtain excellent agreement between the predicted and measured characteristics of the circuit, a unique achievement in this frequency band. The circuit is also the first 180-205 GHz amplifier designed for and successfully fabricated using TRWs standard 0.1-/spl mu/m InP HEMT process.

Measurement of a 270 GHz Low Noise Amplifier With 7.5 dB Noise Figure

We describe the measurement of the noise of a 270-GHz low noise amplifier using wafer-probe techniques. The measurement includes deembedding to the coplanar waveguide input of the chip. The noise was measured at a variety of bias conditions and found to be a minimum of 7.5 dB. The gain of the chip is measured to be 11.4 dB, consistent with -parameter measurements of the same device. This is the highest frequency measurement of noise of a monolithic microwave integrated circuit amplifier and the only known on-wafer measurement of noise at this frequency. The measurement demonstrates that wafer probe techniques developed at lower frequencies can be applied to circuits at submillimeter wavelengths.

Demonstration of a 270-GHz MMIC Amplifier Using 35-nm InP HEMT Technology

In this letter, the first 270-GHz millimeter-wave integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifier is demonstrated. Peak measured gain of 11.6-dB is measured for the three stage amplifier realized in coplanar waveguide. Further, positive S21 gain is measured to 340GHz making this the highest frequency MMIC amplifier reported to date. The high frequency circuit performance is enabled through a 35-nm InP high electron mobility transistor capable of extremely high frequency operation

A 180-GHz monolithic sub-harmonic InP-based HEMT diode mixer

A 180-GHz monolithic sub-harmonic diode mixer is developed using 0.08-μm pseudomorphic InAlAs-InGaAs HEMT MMIC process on a 2-mil-thick InP substrate. This mixer demonstrates a conversion loss of better than 16.5 dB from 175 to 182 GHz with an LO drive of 13 dBm at 96 GHz. This is the first demonstration of a monolithic subharmonic HEMT diode mixer in this frequency range. The design and measurement of this monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) mixer and the waveguide-to-microstrip line transitions of the test-fixture are presented.