Cost-Effective High-Performance Monolithic X-Band Low-Noise Amplifiers

A low-cost, high-performance X-band amplifier with ion-implanted MESFET technology has been demonstrated. Various design, material, and processing approaches have been evaluated in terms of yield, cost, and device performance. An average noise figure of 2.2 dB and a standard deviation of 0.1 dB, with an associated gain of 22.5 dB and a standard deviation of 0.8 dB at the center frequency band of 9.5 GHz, have been measured.