Noise assessment of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on Si or SiC substrates: application to X-band low noise amplifiers

This study regards the low noise properties of X-band GaN-based LNAs as well as its associated robustness. Devices are processed on epilayers grown on SiC or Si substrates. The HEMTs present very low noise properties with NF/sub min/ and G/sub ass/ close to 1 dB and 13 dB at 12 GHz. The robustness tests show that the component withstands power level up to 34 dBm. A two-stages X-band LNA is fabricated showing a noise figure of 1.7 dB with a gain of 20 dB at 10 GHz.