A family of 2-20 GHz broadband low noise AlGaAs HEMT MMIC amplifiers

The authors describe the technology development leading to a family of high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) monolithic low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), and present modeled and measured performance data on LNAs covering the 2-20 GHz frequency band. These amplifiers achieve noise figures comparable to their counterpart in hybrid HEMT technology. The amplifiers are configured in a cascadable design, with simultaneous low input and output VSWR, and flat gain response. Performance results include measured and modeled data for a 2-7 GHz LNA with 2.5-dB noise figure, a 2-20-GHz distributed amplifier with 9.5-dB flat gain and 3.5-dB noise figure, and a 5-11-GHz and >3.5 balanced LNA with 10-dB gain and <2.5-dB noise figure (6-11 GHz). A preliminary temperature step-stress reliability evaluation on the discrete-process HEMT device is also presented.<>