Design of pHEMT based MMIC frequency multiplier with On-Chip ESD Protection

An active pHEMT based frequency doubler is designed using 0. 13umGaAs MMIC process with integrated On-Chip ESD protection circuitry. All GaAs integrated circuits are sensitive to ESD damage. Failures are typically seen at voltage range between 140V and 300V (HBM-Human Body Model). Hence it was required to introduce design modifications and additional circuitry to improve immunity against ESD damage. The designed frequency doubler operates at X Band (9.5GHz-l0.5GHz) to provide an output at K Band (19GHz21GHz) with output power of l0dB. The diode network used in design provides a practical protection for gate terminals of FET, easily exceeding 1000V(HBM). The design is optimized such that the additional circuitry doesn’t compromise performance or size of the design.