An ultra-low power InAs/AlSb HEMT Ka-band low-noise amplifier

Author

Hacker, J.B. ; Bergman, J. ; Nagy, G. ; Sullivan, G. ; Kadow, C. ; Heng-Kuang Lin ; Gossard, A.C. ; Rodwell, M. ; Brar, B.

Author_Institution

Rockwell Sci. Co., Thousand Oaks, CA, USA

Volume

14

Issue

4

fYear

2004

fDate

4/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

156

Lastpage

158

Abstract

The first antimonide-based compound semiconductor (ABCS) MMIC, a Ka-Band low-noise amplifier using 0.25-μm gate length InAs/AlSb metamorphic HEMTs, has been fabricated and characterized on a 75 μm GaAs substrate. The compact 1.1 mm² three-stage Ka-band LNA demonstrated an average of 2.1 dB noise-figure between 34-36 GHz with an associated gain of 22 dB. The measured dc power dissipation of the ABCS LNA was an ultra-low 1.5 mW per stage, or 4.5 mW total. This is less than one-tenth the dc power dissipation of a typical equivalent InGaAs/AlGaAs/GaAs HEMT LNA. Operation with degraded gain and noise figure at 1.1 mW total dc power dissipation is also verified. These results demonstrate the outstanding potential of ABCS HEMT technology for mobile and space-based millimeter-wave applications.

Keywords

HEMT integrated circuits; III-V semiconductors; MMIC amplifiers; gallium arsenide; indium compounds; integrated circuit design; low-power electronics; HEMT amplifier; InAs-AlSb; InGaAs-AlGaAs-GaAs; Ka band; MMIC amplifier; antimonide-based compound semiconductor; dc power dissipation; gate length; low-noise amplifier; millimeter-wave applications; ultra-low power amplifier; Gain; Gallium arsenide; HEMTs; Low-noise amplifiers; MMICs; Power dissipation; Power measurement; Semiconductor device noise; Substrates; mHEMTs;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave and Wireless Components Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1531-1309

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LMWC.2004.827132

Filename

1291449