A Metamorphic HEMT S-MMIC Amplifier with 16.1 dB Gain at 460 GHz

In this paper, we present a four-stage submillimeter-wave monolithic integrated circuit (S-MMIC) amplifier for use in next generation radar and communication systems operating in the WR-2.2 waveguide band (325 - 500 GHz). The low-noise amplifier circuit (LNA) has been realized using a 35 nm InAlAs/InGaAs based metamorphic high electron mobility transistor (mHEMT) technology and demonstrates a peak gain of 16.1 dB at 460 GHz and a small-signal gain of more than 13 dB in the bandwidth from 433 to 465 GHz. The use of grounded coplanar waveguide (GCPW) topology in combination with a very compact design resulted in a die size of only 0.37 × 0.63 mm
²
.