Radar Burn out Studies of Low Noise HEMTs and GaAs FETs

Measurements of gain recovery from overload and catastrophic burn out are described for a range of low noise HEMTs and GaAs FETs. The overload pulses used are simulated X-Band radar leakage pulses. The recovery results show similar recovery times for HEMT devices as for conventional GaAs FETs. The burn out results show burn out levels generally lower for HEMTs, but typically higher than about 40 nJ, making the devices viable for use in radar front end LNAs, assuming reasonable levels of front end protection.