Development and evaluation of a GaAs MMIC phase-locked loop chip set for space applications

Author

Archer, John ; Smith, Bryce M. ; Weaver, Gary R. ; Wong, Harry ; Yonemura, Jeffry Y.

Author_Institution

Varian III-V Device Center, Santa Clara, CA, USA

Volume

37

Issue

4

fYear

1989

fDate

4/1/1989 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

790

Lastpage

792

Abstract

GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) chips designed for a phase-locked loop frequency source to be used in space applications have been developed. The chip set includes a three-stage resistive feedback amplifier with 13-dB gain in a 275 MHz to 5.85 GHz bandwidth, a 2.0-GHz voltage-controlled oscillator, a 2.8-GHz digital prescaler, and a VHF/UHF digital phase/frequency discriminator. Both analog and buffered-FET logic digital circuits were fabricated on the same wafer. The MMIC process which was developed for this application comprises molecular beam epitaxial deposition of the active layer, proton isolation, submicron gates, thin film TaN resistor deposition, and silicon nitride passivation. The chip set was used successfully to implement a 2.0 GHz all-GaAs phase-locked loop.<>

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; MMIC; aerospace instrumentation; field effect integrated circuits; gallium arsenide; phase-locked loops; satellite relay systems; 13 dB; 2 GHz; 5.575 GHz; GaAs; III-V semiconductors; MBE; MMIC; PLL chip set; Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/ passivation; VCO; VHF/UHF digital phase/frequency discriminator; analogue circuits; buffered-FET logic digital circuits; communication satellites; digital prescaler; frequency source; molecular beam epitaxial deposition; monolithic microwave integrated circuit; phase-locked loop; proton isolation; resistive feedback amplifier; space applications; submicron gates; thin film TaN resistor deposition; three-stage; voltage-controlled oscillator; Application specific integrated circuits; Bandwidth; Feedback amplifiers; Frequency locked loops; Gallium arsenide; MMICs; Microwave integrated circuits; Monolithic integrated circuits; Phase locked loops; Voltage-controlled oscillators;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9480

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/22.18855

Filename

18855