W-Band On-Wafer Noise Parameter Measurements

Several current and planned space missions for earth observation and astronomy require very low noise receivers at W-band. Key components in W-band low noise receivers are the InP low noise amplifiers (LNA). The design of LNAs is a greatly dependent at the availability of good noise models for the devices used in the LNAs. To characterise devices at W-band an on-wafer noise parameter set-up has been developed and is presented here. Using the set-up the noise parameters of an InP HEMT in the frequency band 79-94 GHz have been measured. These are the first reported noise parameter measurements of active devices at W-band. The measurement set-up is based on the cold-source method.