A W-band monolithic downconverter

The design, fabrication, and evaluation of a fully integrated W-band monolithic downconverter based on InGaAs pseudomorphic HEMT technology are presented. The monolithic downconverter consists of a two-stage low-noise amplifier and a single-balanced mixer. The single-balanced mixer has been designed using the HEMT gate Schottky diodes inherent to the process. Measured results of the complete downconverter show conversion gain of 5.5 dB and a double-sideband noise figure of 6.7 dB at 94 GHz. Also presented is the downconverter performance characterized over the -35°C to +65°C temperature range. The downconverter design was a first pass success and has a high circuit yield     

A low-voltage and variable-gain distributed amplifier for 3.1-10.6 GHz UWB systems

A low-voltage and variable-gain distributed amplifier is presented in this letter. This microwave monolithic integrated circuit amplifier achieves 12-dB gain with a 3-dB frequency band of 1.6-12.1GHz and 6.5-dB noise figure under the bias condition of 0.8-V supply voltage and 6.4-mW total dc power consumption. The gain-control range is from -18dB to +20dB. Resistive metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors are used as termination resistors to compensate the mismatch due to different bias conditions. From 3.1 to 10.6GHz, the maximum gain ripple of this amplifier is only /spl plusmn/1dB for the gain level between -4 and 20dB.     

A W-band image-rejection downconverter

The design, fabrication, and evaluation of a W-band image-rejection downconverter based on pseudomorphic InGaAs-GaAs HEMT technology are presented. The image-rejection downconverter consists of a monolithic three-stage low-noise amplifier, a monolithic image-rejection mixer, and a hybrid IF 90° coupler with an IF amplifier. The three-stage amplifier has a measured noise figure of 3.5 dB, with an associated small signal gain of 21 dB at 94 GHz while the image-rejection mixer has a measured conversion loss of 11 dB with +10 dBm LO drive at 94.15 GHz. Measured results of the complete image-rejection downconverter including the hybrid IF 90° coupler and a 10 dB gain amplifier show a conversion gain of more than 18 dB and a noise figure of 4.6 dB at 94.45 GHz     

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     

110-120-GHz monolithic low-noise amplifiers

The authors discuss the development of 110-120-GHz monolithic low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) using 0.1-mm pseudomorphic AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs low-noise HEMT technology. Two 2-stage LNAs have been designed, fabricated, and tested. The first amplifier demonstrates a gain of 12 dB at 112 to 115 GHz with a noise figure of 6.3 dB when biased for high gain, and a noise figure of 5.5 dB is achieved with an associated gain of 10 dB at 113 GHz when biased for low-noise figure. The other amplifier has a measured small-signal gain of 19.6 dB at 110 GHz with a noise figure of 3.9 dB. A noise figure of 3.4 dB with 15.6-dB associated gain was obtained at 113 GHz. The authors state that the small-signal gain and noise figure performance for the second LNA are the best results ever achieved for a two-stage HEMT amplifier at this frequency band     

A 22-GHz-band low-noise down-converter for satellite broadcastreceivers

A simple low-cost and high-performance 22 GHz band down-converter developed for a direct-to-home satellite broadcasting system is discussed. The down-converter consists of a low-noise high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) preamplifier, an image recovery mixer with a particular structure using dielectric resonator filters, a 21.4 GHz GaAs FET oscillator stabilized by a dielectric resonator, and an IF amplifier. These components are fully integrating using microwave integrated circuit technology into a small size. A total noise figure of less than 2.8 dB is obtained over the 22.5-23.0 GHz frequency range. The local oscillator achieves a frequency variation of less than 600 kHz_p-p over a temperature range of -20° to +60°C     

A 4-terminal wide-band monolithic amplifier

A bipolar monolithic amplifier is described which achieves 18 dB gain, 725 MHz-3 dB bandwidth and 4.4 dB noise figure. The circuit is housed in a 4-lead TO-46 package, consumes 180 mW of DC power and requires no external components. Input and output impedances are matched to 50 /spl Omega/ with VSWR less than 1.5 across the band. A high-power version of the circuit consumes 1 W of DC power and gives 152 mW output power at 200 MHz.     

High-performance in W-band monolithic pseudomorphic InGaAsHEMT LNA's and design/analysis methodology

High-performance W-band monolithic one- and two-stage low noise amplifiers (LNAs) based on pseudomorphic InGaAs-GaAs HEMT devices have been developed. The one-stage amplifier has a measured noise figure of 5.1 dB with an associated gain of 7 dB from 92 to 95 GHz, and the two-stage amplifier has a measured small signal gain of 13.3 dB at 94 GHz and 17 dB at 89 GHz with a noise figure of 5.5 dB from 91 to 95 GHz. An eight-stage LNA built by cascading four of these monolithic two-stage LNA chips demonstrates 49 dB gain and 6.5 dB noise figure at 94 GHz. A rigorous analysis procedure was incorporated in the design, including accurate active device modeling and full-wave EM analysis of passive structures. The first pass success of these LNA chip designs indicates the importance of a rigorous design/analysis methodology in millimeter-wave monolithic IC development     

Millimeter-wave low-noise and high-power metamorphic HEMTamplifiers and devices on GaAs substrates

This paper reports on state of-the-art HEMT devices and circuit results utilizing 32% and 60% indium content InGaAs channel metamorphic technology on GaAs substrates. The 60% In metamorphic HEMT (MHEMT) has achieved an excellent 0.61-dB minimum noise figure with 11.8 dB of associated gain at 26 GHz. Using this MHEMT technology, two and three-stage Ka-band low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) have demonstrated <1.4-dB noise figure with 16 dB of gain and <1.7 with 26 dB of gain, respectively. The 32% In MHEMT device has overcome the <3.5-V drain bias limitation of other MHEMT power devices, showing a power density of 650 mW/mm at 35 GHz, with V_ds=6 V     

InAlAs/InGaAs/InP基PHEMTs小信号建模及低噪声应用

利用改进的小信号模型对采用100nmInAlAs/InGaAs/InP工艺设计实现的PHEMTs器件进行建模, 并设计实现了一款W波段单片低噪声放大器进行信号模型的验证。为了进一步改善信号模型低频S参数拟合差的精度, 该小信号模型考虑了栅源和栅漏二极管微分电阻, 在等效电路拓扑中分别用Rfs和Rfd表示.为了验证模型的可行性, 基于该信号模型研制了W波段低噪声放大器单片.在片测试结果表明:最大小信号增益为14.4dB@92.5GHz, 3dB带宽为25GHz@85-110GHz.而且, 该放大器也表现出了良好的噪声特性, 在88GHz处噪声系数为4.1dB, 相关增益为13.8dB.与同频段其他芯片相比, 该放大器单片具有宽3dB带宽和高的单级增益.     

A novel monolithic HBT-p-i-n-HEMT integrated circuit with HBTactive feedback and p-i-n diode variable gain control

We report the world's first functional MMIC circuit integrating HBT's, HEMT's, and vertical p-i-n diodes on a single III-V substrate. The 1-10 GHz variable gain amplifier monolithically integrates HEMT, HBT, and vertical p-i-n diode devices has been fabricated using selective MBE and a merged processing technology. The VGA offers low-noise figure, wideband gain performance, and good gain flatness over a wide gain control range. A noise figure below 4 dB was achieved using a HEMT transistor for the amplifier stage and a wide bandwidth of 10 GHz. A nominal gain of 10 dB was achieved by incorporating HBT active feedback techniques and 12 dB of gain control range was obtained using a vertical p-i-n diode as a varistor, all integrated into a compact 1.5×0.76 mm² MMIC. The capability of monolithically integrating HBT's, HEMT's, and p-i-n's in a merged process will stimulate the development of new monolithic circuit techniques for achieving optimal performance as well as provide a foundation for high performance mixed-mode multifunctional MMIC chips     

（英）D波段InP基高增益、低噪声放大芯片的设计与实现

利用90-nm InAlAs/InGaAs/InP HEMT工艺设计实现了两款D波段（110~170 GHz）单片微波集成电路放大器。两款放大器均采用共源结构,布线选取微带线。基于器件A设计的三级放大器A在片测试结果表明：最大小信号增益为11.2 dB@140 GHz,3 dB带宽为16 GHz,芯片面积2.6×1.2 mm2。基于器件B设计的两级放大器B在片测试结果表明：最大小信号增益为15.8 dB@139 GHz,3dB带宽12 GHz,在130~150 GHz频带范围内增益大于10 dB,芯片面积1.7×0.8 mm2,带内最小噪声为4.4 dB、相关增益15 dB@141 GHz,平均噪声系数约为5.2 dB。放大器B具有高的单级增益、相对高的增益面积比以及较好的噪声系数。该放大器芯片的设计实现对于构建D波段接收前端具有借鉴意义。     

A NOVEL Ku-BAND LOW NOISE AMPLIFIER WITH HEMT AND GaAs MMIC

A novel Ku-band low noise amplifier with a high electron mobility transistor (HEMT)and a GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) has been demonstrated. Its noisefigure is less-than 1.9dB with an associated gain larger than 27dB and an input/output VSWRless than 1.4 in the frequency range of 11.7-12.2GHz. The HEMT and the microwave series in-ductance feedback technique are used in the first stage of the amplifier, and a Ku-band MMIC isemployed in the last stage. The key to this design is to achieve an optimum noise match and a min-imum input VSWR matching simultaneously by using the microwave series inductance feedbackmethod. The B J-120 waveguides are used in both input and output of the amplifier.     

Broadband single- and double-balanced resistive HEMT monolithicmixers

A double-balanced (DB) 3-18 GHz and a single-balanced (SB) 2-16 GHz resistive HEMT monolithic mixer have been successfully developed. The DB mixer consists of a AlGaAs/InGaAs HEMT quad, an active LO balun, and two passive baluns for RF and IF. At 16 dBm LO power, this mixer achieves the conversion losses of 7.5-9 dB for 4-13 GHz RF and 7.5-11 dB for 3-18 GHz RF. The SB mixer consists of a pair of AlGaAs/InGaAs HEMT's, an active LO balun, a passive IF balun and a passive RF power divider. At 16 dBm LO power, this mixer achieves the conversion losses of 8-10 dB for 4-15 GHz RF and 8-11 dB for 2-16 GHz RF. The simulated conversion losses of both mixers are very much in agreement with the measured results. Also, the DB mixer achieves a third-order input intercept (IP₃) of +19.5 to +27.5 dBm for a 7-18 GHz RF and 1 GHz IF at a LO drive of 16 dBm while the SB mixer achieves an input IP ₃ of +20 to +28.5 dBm for 2 to 16 GHz RF and 1 GHz IF at a 16 dBm LO power. The bandwidth of the RF and LO frequencies are approximately 6:1 for the DB mixer and 8:1 for the SB mixer. The DB mixer of this work is believed to be the first reported DB resistive HEMT MMIC mixer covering such a broad bandwidth     

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 TRW's standard 0.1-μm InP HEMT process     

一款130～140GHz MMIC低噪声放大器

基于90 nm栅长的InP高电子迁移率晶体管(HEMT)工艺,研制了一款工作于130 ～140 GHz的MMIC低噪声放大器(LNA).该款放大器采用三级级联的双电源拓扑结构,第一级电路在确保较低的输入回波损耗的同时优化了放大器的噪声,后两级则采用最大增益的匹配方式,保证了放大器具有良好的增益平坦度和较小的输出回波损耗.在片测试结果表明,在栅、漏极偏置电压分别为-0.25 V和3V的工作条件下,该放大器在130～ 140 GHz工作频带内噪声系数小于6.5 dB,增益为18 dB±1.5 dB,输入电压驻波比小于2:1,输出电压驻波比小于3:1.芯片面积为1.70 mm×1.10 mm.该低噪声放大器有望应用于D波段的收发系统中.     

Linearized Darlington Cascode Amplifier Employing GaAs PHEMT and GaN HEMT Technologies

This paper reports on the results of a new Darlington cascode (DCAS) feedback amplifier topology implemented with 0.5 mum E-mode GaAs PHEMT technology. The Darlington cascode employs active self-bias and a linearizing Darlington cascode circuit for achieving enhanced gain and IP3-bandwidth performance. The Darlington cascode achieves 12.5 dB gain with a 16 GHz 3 dB bandwidth (BW)-a 60% BW improvement over an equivalent conventional Darlington amplifier design. The DCAS obtains an IP3 of 29 dBm with a 13 GHz BW-an 80% improvement in IP3-BW over the conventional Darlington approach. These improvements have been obtained without significantly compromising noise figure, stability, or bias robustness. The DCAS amplifier design approach was also successfully applied to a high-voltage GaN HEMT technology and resulted in greater than 1 W output power over a multi-octave 1-4GHz band. The DCAS topology offers an approach for compacting high microwave performance into a small area without the use of distributed or reactive matching techniques.     

A Cool, Sub-0.2 dB Noise Figure GaN HEMT Power Amplifier With 2-Watt Output Power

This paper reports on a S-, C-band low-noise power amplifier (LNPA) which achieves a sub-0.2 dB noise figure (NF) over a multi-octave band and a saturated output power (Psat) of 2 W at a cool temperature of -30degC . The GaN MMIC is based on a 0.2 mum AlGaN/GaN-SiC HEMT technology with an f_T ~ 75 GHz. At a cool temperature of -30degC and a power bias of 15 V-400 mA, the MMIC achieves 0.25-0.45 dB average NF over a 2-8 GHz band and a linear P_1dB of 32.8 dBm ( ~ 2 W) with 25% power-added efficiency (PAE). At a medium bias of 12 V-200 mA, the amplifier achieves 0.1-0.2 dB average NF across the same band and a P_1dB of 32.2 dBm (1.66 W) with 35% PAE. The corresponding saturated output power is greater than 2 W. At a low noise bias of 5 V-200 mA, a remarkable 0.05-0.15 dB average NF is achieved with a P_1dB > 24 dBm and PAE ~ 33%. These results are believed to be the lowest NF ever reported for a multi-octave fully matched MMIC amplifier capable of > 2 W of output power.     

一种新颖的具有HEMT和GaAs MMIC的Ku波段低噪声放大器

本文介绍了一种具有高电子迁移率晶体管(HEMT)和砷化镓单片微波集成电路(GaAs MMIC)的Ku波段低噪声放大器。在11.7～12.2GHz频率范围内,该放大器的噪声系数小于1.9dB,相关增益大于27dB,输入和输出驻波比小于1.4。放大器第一级采用了HEMT和微波串联电感反馈技术,放大器未级采用了Ku波段GsAs MMIC。设计的关键是采用微波串联电感反馈方法同时获得最佳噪声和最小输入驻波匹配。放大器的输入端和输出端均为BJ-120波导。     

32-GHz cryogenically cooled HEMT low-noise amplifiers

The cryogenic noise temperature performances of a two-stage and a three-stage 32-GHz HEMT (high-electron-mobility transistor) amplifier were evaluated. The amplifiers utilize quarter-micrometer conventional AlGaAs/GaAs HEMT devices, hybrid matching input and output microstrip circuits, and a cryogenically stable DC biasing network. The noise temperature measurements were performed in the frequency range of 31 to 33 GHz over a physical temperature range of 300 to 12 K. Across the measurement band, the amplifiers displayed a broadband response, and the noise temperature was observed to decrease by a factor of ten in cooling from 300 to 15 K. The lowest noise temperature measured for the two-stage amplifier at 32 GHz was 35 K with an associated gain of 16.5 dB, while for the three-stage amplifier it was 39 K with an associated gain of 26 dB. It was further observed that both amplifiers were insensitive to light