Title :
Tunable microwave amplifier using a compact MEMS impedance matching network
Author :
Domingue, Frédéric ; Kouki, Ammar B. ; Mansour, Raafat R.
Author_Institution :
LACIME Lab., Ecole de Technol. Super. Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada
Abstract :
This paper presents the design of a reconfigurable RF amplifier based on compact tunable MEMS impedance matching network for low frequency applications. The amplifier uses a pHEMT transistor fabricated in GaAs technology while the MEMS circuits were fabricated using a dedicated RF MEMS process. The reconfigurable network is based on a slow-wave distributed MEMS transmission line (SW-DMTL) presenting a wide impedance coverage at low frequencies. The performance of the amplifier is controlled for frequencies from 3.5 to 9 GHz while the gain is kept around the maximum available stable gain. Moreover, the amplifier operates under various source impedance conditions.
Keywords :
MMIC amplifiers; high-frequency transmission lines; impedance matching; micromechanical devices; GaAs; GaAs technology; MEMS circuits; RF MEMS process; compact MEMS impedance matching network; frequency 3.5 GHz to 9 GHz; low frequency applications; pHEMT transistor; reconfigurable RF amplifier; slow-wave distributed MEMS transmission line; tunable microwave amplifier; Frequency; Gallium arsenide; Impedance matching; Micromechanical devices; Microwave amplifiers; Microwave transistors; PHEMTs; Performance gain; Radiofrequency amplifiers; Tunable circuits and devices;
Conference_Titel :
Microwave Integrated Circuits Conference, 2009. EuMIC 2009. European
Conference_Location :
Rome
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4749-7
