Multiplicative and Additive Low-Frequency Noise in Microwave Transistors

Author

Weinreb, S. ; Schleeh, Joel

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA

Volume

62

Issue

1

fYear

2014

fDate

Jan. 2014

Firstpage

83

Lastpage

91

Abstract

The additive noise (i.e., noise figure) in the 1-Hz-1-GHz range and multiplicative noise (i.e., gain fluctuations) in the 1-Hz-100-kHz range have been measured for six different types of high electron mobility transistors and two heterojunction bipolar transistors. The instrumentation enables measurement of multiplicative noise as small as 10^-6 (1 ppm). Measurements were performed at 300 and 22 K and results are discussed with regard to transistor technology, coupling of additive and multiplicative effects, and bias circuit dependence. The results are applied to radiometers and the degradation in performance due to the gain fluctuation is presented.

Keywords

heterojunction bipolar transistors; high electron mobility transistors; microwave transistors; semiconductor device noise; additive effects; additive low-frequency noise; bias circuit dependence; frequency 1 Hz to 1 GHz; gain fluctuations; heterojunction bipolar transistors; high electron mobility transistors; microwave transistors; multiplicative effects; multiplicative low-frequency noise; noise figure; radiometers; transistor technology; Frequency measurement; Gain; HEMTs; Noise; Noise measurement; Voltage measurement; $1/f$; Gain fluctuations; high electron-mobility transistor (HEMT); noise; radiometers; transistors;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9480

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TMTT.2013.2293123

Filename

6684329