Cryogenically-cooled, HFET amplifiers and receivers: state-of-the-art and future trends

Author

Pospieszalski, M.W.

Author_Institution

Nat. Radio Astron. Obs., Charlottesville, VA, USA

fYear

1992

fDate

1-5 June 1992

Firstpage

1369

Abstract

Recent progress in the development of ultra-low-noise, cryogenically coolable, HFET (heterostructure field-effect transistor) amplifiers and receivers for radio astronomy applications is reported. Examples of state-of-the-art receivers at frequencies from L- to Q-band are discussed. A model-based prediction of future performance demonstrates that HFET receivers should soon be competitive with SIS (superconductor-insulator-superconductor) mixer receivers at W-band frequencies. It is noted that the trade-off in low-noise amplifier design (bandwidth, input voltage standing wave ratio, stability, gain) can be reliably investigated in a computer model leading to a design with an optimal noise bandwidth performance. The bandwidth of a receiver is no longer limited by the amplifier bandwidth. In many receiving systems, the noise of a HFET amplifier is no longer a dominant contribution to the system noise.<>

Keywords

circuit CAD; microwave amplifiers; radioastronomy; solid-state microwave circuits; HFET amplifiers; L-band; Q-band; W-band; computer model; cryogenically coolable; heterostructure field-effect transistor; low-noise amplifier design; model-based prediction; noise bandwidth performance; radio astronomy applications; receivers; Bandwidth; Frequency; HEMTs; MODFETs; Predictive models; Radio astronomy; Radiofrequency amplifiers; Receivers; Superconducting device noise; Superconducting devices;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwave Symposium Digest, 1992., IEEE MTT-S International

Conference_Location

Albuquerque, NM, USA

ISSN

0149-645X

Print_ISBN

0-7803-0611-2

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MWSYM.1992.188260

Filename

188260