M.V. Aust

A 140-GHz monolithic low noise amplifier

The design, fabrication, and performance of a single-stage 44 GHz monolithic HEMT low noise amplifier are described. The chip includes a single heterojunction HEMT with matching and biasing circuits. Greater than 5 dB gain was measured from 43.5 to 45.5 GHz and a noise figure of 5 dB with the associated gain of 5.5 dB was achieved at 44.5 GHz. The chip size is 1.25mm x 1.0mm.This paper presents the development of a 140-GHz monolithic low noise amplifier (LNA) using 0.1-μm pseudomorphic InAlAs-InGaAs-InP low noise HEMT technology. A two-stage single-ended 140-GHz monolithic LNA has been designed, fabricated and tested. It exhibits a measured small signal gain of 9 dB at 142 GHz, and more than 5-dB gain from 138-145 GHz. This is the highest frequency monolithic amplifier ever reported using three terminal devices.

Wideband Dual-Gate GaN HEMT Low Noise Amplifier for Front-End Receiver Electronics

A highly survivable wideband low noise amplifier (LNA) for front-end receiver electronics is presented utilizing 0.2 mum AlGaN/GaN HEMT process on SiC substrate. This novel amplifier utilizes dual-gate devices with current feedback and drain bias network to attain wideband performance in terms of lower noise and higher gain. Nominal operation at 125 mA/mm at a drain voltage of 10 volts provided 12.5 to 18 dB gain and 1.3 to 2.5 dB noise figure. Due to high breakdown voltage, the amplifier is capable of better than 25 dBm of output power and can withstand an input power level approaching 38 dBm. This paper will also document performance comparison with a similar circuit using 0.15 mum pseudomorphic InGaAs/AlGaAs/GaAs HEMT low noise amplifier to demonstrate the outstanding survivability of AlGaN/GaN low noise amplifiers

A Ka-band HEMT MMIC 1 watt power amplifier

A 34-36-GHz, 1-W, 9-dB-gain monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifier which utilizes 0.15- mu m pseudomorphic InGaAs-GaAs high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) process technology is discussed. Power amplifier sites across the wafer were fully characterized with an on-wafer pulsed large-signal S-parameter test set. Test results from these amplifier chips showed output powers >30 dBm, with >9-dB gain, and power-added efficiencies >20%. Overall chip size is 4.8 mm*2.3 mm. A two-stage power amplifier module using one chip to drive three chips has been developed. The resulting amplifier module has achieved 3-W output power and 17-dB gain from 34-36 GHz.<<ETX>>

A high efficiency V-band monolithic HEMT power amplifier

We report the performance of a monolithic V-band power amplifier using 0.15-/spl mu/m double heterostructure pseudomorphic InGaAs/AlGaAs/GaAs HEMTs. The amplifier using a 400-/spl mu/m device driving a 2/spl times/400-/spl mu/m device. It has demonstrated output power of 313 mW (0.39 W/mm) with 8.95 dB power gain and 19.9% PAE at 59.5 GHz. These data represent the highest reported combination of output power, power gain, and power-added efficiency reported for a V-band monolithic power amplifier.<<ETX>>

Ka-band power PHEMT on-wafer characterization using prematched structures

High-power Ka-band power amplifiers have been developed using monolithic prematched structures utilizing power InGaAs pseudomorphic high-electron-mobility-transistor (PHEMT) devices. On-wafer load-pull impedance data on structures containing 0.15- mu m*400- mu m, 0.15- mu m*800- mu m, and 0.15- mu m*1600- mu m devices were obtained. Based on this information, a two-stage MIC (microwave integrated circuit) amplifier consisting of a single 1600- mu m monolithic prematched structure driving four 1600- mu m monolithic prematched structures was realized. The amplifier achieved an output power of 1.6 W (32.2 dBm) with 8.1 dB gain at 35 GHz.<<ETX>>

44 GHz monolithic HEMT downconverter

A systematic design, fabrication, and evaluation of a monolithic HEMT (high-electron-mobility transistor) downconverter is presented. The downconverter contains a three-stage low-noise amplifier (LNA), a single balanced mixer, and a two-stage post-amplifier (IF amplifier). The measured results show the downconverter receives signals from 43.5 to 45.5 GHz and converts them down in frequency from 2.3 to 4.3 GHz. The conversion gain is 15 dB with a noise figure of 6.0 dB. This is the best result reported for down converters in this frequency range, and represents the state of the art in monolithic millimeter-wave technology. The downconverter is a key component for many satellite, phased array radar, and electronic warfare (EW) systems.<<ETX>>

Ultra low noise Q-band monolithic amplifiers using InP- and GaAs-based 0.1 /spl mu/m HEMT technologies

Design and development of ultra low noise MMIC Q-band LNAs using both InP- and GaAs-based 0.1 /spl mu/m HEMT technologies with state-of-the-art noise figures are reported in this paper. For InAlAs-InGaAs-InP HEMT LNAs, we have achieved noise figure performance as low as 1.6 dB with 10 dB associated gain for a one-stage LNA. With a two stage design, 20 dB gain with 1.8 dB noise figure was obtained. Single- and multistage MMIC LNAs were also designed and fabricated using a production 0.1 /spl mu/m AlGaAs-InGaAs-GaAs HEMT process. A four-stage LNA also demonstrated 2.5 dB noise figure with 28 dB gain, which is the best MMIC LNA result ever reported for on GaAs-based HEMTs.

A highly compact, wideband GaAs HEMT X-Ku band image-reject receiver MMIC

A fully integrated MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuit) receiver designed and fabricated using the 0.2- mu m pseudomorphic InGaAs-GaAs high-electron-mobility-transistor (HEMT) process technology is discussed. This MMIC receiver incorporates a single-stage RF amplifier, a two-staged balanced local oscillator (LO) amplifier, a single-stage IF amplifier, an IF switch and an image-reject diode mixer. Results from these receiver chips show good conversion gain and image rejection in a single small chip over multioctave frequencies. The chip operates from a single +5 V DC supply and draws 280 mA. Total chip size is 5.5 mm*4.5 mm.<<ETX>>

A highly compact, wideband GaAs MESFET X-Ku band receiver MMIC

A fully integrated MMIC (microwave monolithic integrated circuit) receiver was designed and fabricated using the ion-implanted GaAs MESFET 0.5 mu m process. This MMIC receiver incorporates a two-stage RF amplifier, a two-stage LO (local oscillator) amplifier, an IF (intermediate frequency) amplifier, and a singly balanced diode mixer. Better than 10 dB conversion gain is achieved from 9 to 20 GHz. The LO to IF isolation is better than 30 dB. This chip operates from a single +5 VDC and draws 175 mA. Total chip size is 3.5 mm*3.0 mm.<<ETX>>

Survivability of AlGaN/GaN HEMT

Using harmonic balance simulations, we have examined the survivability limiting mechanisms of a 0.2 mum T-gate AlGaN/GaN HEMT device under RF overdrive. Simulations are performed using a 4-finger 200 mum AlGaN/GaN HEMT device model. Two catastrophic failure mechanisms are identified. At low quiescent drain-source voltages (<10 V), the forward turn-on of the gate diode may exceed the burnout limit, resulting in a sudden failure. Increasing the quiescent drain-source voltage increases the peak drain-gate voltage and changes the failure mechanism to gate-drain reverse breakdown. The model is consistent with experimental measurements.