Low-Noise HEMT by MOCVD for Satellite Reception

Low-noise AlGaAs/GaAs HEMTs for microwave applications have been developed using MOCVD (Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition). The HEMTs described in this paper, having gate lengths of 0.5 microns and gate widths of 200 and 300 microns, have displayed low noise figure, high reliability and high producibility. The average noise figure of the devices fabricated on a 2-inch wafer is typically 1.0dB, with a deviation of less than 0.1dB within a wafer and wafer-to-wafer. A Ku-band downconverter for the ECS band (10.95GHz to 11.7GHz) was built using 300-micron wide HEMTs in the 2-stage RF amplifier, and an average noise figure of 1.5dB was obtained.