Codesign of ${K}$ a-Band Integrated GaAs PIN Diodes Limiter and Low Noise Amplifier

In this paper, a novel concurrent design of integrated PIN-diode based limiter and low noise amplifier (LNA) is presented for Ka-band MMICs fabricated using a combined PIN/0.15-μm-pHEMT technology. To improve the small-signal performance and the power-handling capability of the limiter-LNA, the improvement of the PIN-limiter circuit structure and the survivability of the LNA network are proposed. In addition, the total chip area is 2.5 mm × 1.2 mm with an equalizer integrated on chip behind the limiter-LNA to improve the bandwidth with a minimum impact on overall NF. The measurements show that the proposed limiter-LNA with only two-stage limiter structure tolerates up to 38 dBm continuous wave (CW) input power without failure, and the average gain and the noise figure for the limiter-LNA are 17 dB and 2.2 - 2.6 dB, respectively, on the 30 - 38 GHz frequency bandwidth.