An E-band very low noise amplifier with variable gain control on 100 nm GaAs pHEMT technology

Design methodology and measurements of an E-band very low noise amplifier (LNA) are presented in this paper. This four stages MMIC is manufactured on UMS 4 inch 100 nm GaAs pHEMT technology with BCB coating. The chip size is 3.35 × 1.12 mm
²
. On-wafer measurements, close to simulation results, exhibit a gain of 22 dB associated to 4 dB noise figure in the 71-86 GHz frequency band (less than 3.5 dB in the 76-86 GHz sub-band). An output power of 10 dBm at 1 dB compression at maximum gain and 12 dB gain control dynamic range are also demonstrated in the entire frequency band by tuning the gate voltage from -3 to -2 V. To our knowledge, these performances are among the best reported up to now for an E-band LNA.