Title :
Noise Measurements of Discrete HEMT Transistors and Application to Wideband Very Low-Noise Amplifiers
Author :
Akgiray, Ahmed H. ; Weinreb, S. ; Leblanc, Remy ; Renvoise, M. ; Frijlink, P. ; Lai, Richard ; Sarkozy, Stephen
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA
Abstract :
The noise models of InP and GaAs HEMTs are compared with measurements at both 300 and 20 K. The critical parameter, Tdrain, in the Pospieszalski noise model is determined as a function of drain current by measurements of the 1-GHz noise of discrete transistors with 50- Ω generator impedance. The dc I-V for the transistors under test are presented and effects of impact-ionization are noted. InP devices with both 100% and 75% indium mole fraction in channel are included. Examples of the design and measurement of very wideband low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) using the tested transistors are presented. At 20-K physical temperature the GaAs LNA achieves 10-K noise over the 0.7-16-GHz range with 16 mW of power and an InP LNA measures 20-K noise over the 6-50-GHz range with 30 mW of power.
Keywords :
gallium arsenide; high electron mobility transistors; indium compounds; low noise amplifiers; millimetre wave amplifiers; noise measurement; wideband amplifiers; DC I-V; GaAs; InP; LNA; Pospieszalski noise model; discrete HEMT transistor; drain current; generator impedance; impact-ion- ization; indium mole fraction; noise measurements; physical temperature; power 16 mW; power 30 mW; resistance 50 ohm; temperature 20 K; temperature 300 K; wideband very low-noise amplifiers; Cryogenics; HEMTs; Indium phosphide; Noise; Noise measurement; Broadband amplifiers; cryogenics; gallium–arsenide (GaAs); indium–phosphide (InP); low-noise amplifiers (LNAs); microwave amplifiers; monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs); radio astronomy;
Journal_Title :
Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TMTT.2013.2273757
