Design of Cryogenic SiGe Low-Noise Amplifiers

• Published in: IEEE transactions on microwave theory and techniques Vol. 55; no. 11; pp. 2306 - 2312
• Main Authors: Weinreb, S., Bardin, J.C., Mani, H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.11.2007; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Amplification; Amplifiers; Applied sciences; Cascode; Circuit noise; Circuit properties; cryogenic; Cryogenics; Direct current; Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits; Electronic circuits; Electronic equipment and fabrication. Passive components, printed wiring boards, connectics; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Gain measurement; Germanium silicon alloys; low-noise amplifier (LNA); Low-noise amplifiers; Mathematical models; Microwave circuits, microwave integrated circuits, microwave transmission lines, submillimeter wave circuits; Microwave transistors; Noise; Noise generators; Noise measurement; noise parameters; Semiconductor devices; Silicon germanides; Silicon germanium; silicon-germanium (SiGe); Temperature; Theoretical study. Circuits analysis and design; Transistors; Cascode; noise parameters; silicon-germanium (SiGe); low-noise amplifier (LNA); cryogenic; GHz range; Connector; Noise; Low noise amplifier; Microwave; BiCMOS technology; High electron mobility transistor; Noise source; Direct current; Single transistor circuit; Cryogenics; Transconductance; Semiconductor alloys; Circuit simulation; Transistor circuits; Cascode connection; Cryogenic temperature; Transistor amplifiers; Equivalent circuit; Noise temperature; Impedance; Current gain

This paper describes a method for designing cryogenic silicon-germanium (SiGe) transistor low-noise amplifiers and reports record microwave noise temperature, i.e., 2 K, measured at the module connector interface with a 50-Omega generator. A theory for the relevant noise sources in the transistor is...