A wideband cryogenic SiGe LNA MMIC with an average noise temperature of 2.8 K from 0.3–3 GHz

The design and characterization of a 0.3-3 GHz SiGe cryogenic low noise amplifier is presented. The integrated-circuit amplifier was implemented in the ST BiCMOS9MW technology platform. At 16 K physical temperature, it achieves a gain greater than 22 dB, input and output return losses better than 10 dB, and an average noise temperature of 2.8 K over the 0.3-3 GHz frequency range. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this amplifier achieves the best noise performance reported to date for an integrated SiGe low noise amplifier.