Gate layout and bonding pad structure of a RF n-MOSFET for low noise performance

Several 0.35 μm n-MOSFETs with different gate geometry were analyzed to maximize the RF performance, after that the pads were shielded to ground to reduce the noise contribution of pads. The F
_min
of 0.5 dB was improved by utilizing the ground-shielded pads, and the F
_min
of 0.2 dB was improved by using the double-sided gate contact type. The n-MOSFET having the single-sided gate contact and ground-shielded pad showed the F
_min
of 0.46 dB and 0.37 dB at 2 GHz with the drain current of 2.0 mA and 5.3 mA, respectively. Furthermore, the weak frequency dependency of the F
_min
showed a great possibility of a low noise amplifier above 5 GHz.