Demonstration of on-wafer noise figure measurement of 300-GHz amplifier MMIC utilizing microwave photonic noise source

This paper presents an on-wafer noise figure measurement utilizing a microwave photonic noise source in the 300-GHz band, where a conventional noise diode source is not available. The microwave photonics noise source, consisting of a waveguide-packaged uni-travelling-carrier photodiode and an optical amplified-spontaneous-emission noise source, offers an excess noise ratio of 15 dB or more, even including the loss of the measurement setup. We describe the measurement procedure, including the calibration of the measurement setup, and present the on-wafer noise figure measurement of a 300-GHz cascode amplifier with a brief discussion of repeatability.