Design and Characterization of X band Gain Block

In this paper, a general purpose gain block operating in X band is discussed. It was developed using 0.25 um GaAs based PD25 process and the proposed amplifier exhibits gain of 8 dB along with noise figure of 3.5 dB type The die requires dual power supply to operate and occupies a chip area of 1.4 mmX1.6 mm. The die is mounted on a carrier and then placed on a pcb made of Rogers RO4350B for evaluation. Practically measured data show that, when the center frequency is 9 GHz, the small signal gain is 9 dB, and the one dB compression point is 15 dBm. Multiple stability analysis method with simulation result has been demonstrated including K-Δ, µ and nyquist stability. Also a stability enhancement circuit is utilized to improve stability at high frequency. Reliability analysis including MTBF and junction temperature has been calculated and verified across measured results to predict life time of components.