MHEMT [Formula Omitted]-Band Low-Noise Amplifiers

• Published in: IEEE transactions on terahertz science and technology Vol. 4; no. 4; p. 459
• Main Authors: Karkkainen, Mikko, Kantanen, Mikko, Caujolle-Bert, Sylvain, Varonen, Mikko, Weber, Rainer, Leuther, Arnulf, Seelmann-Eggebert, Matthias, Alanne, Ari, Jukkala, Petri, Narhi, Tapani, Halonen, Kari A I
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) 01.01.2014
• ISSN: 2156-342X; 2156-3446
• DOI: 10.1109/TTHZ.2014.2327383

To improve the performance of [Formula Omitted]-band equipment for humidity sounding of the atmosphere, a high-gain and low-noise amplifier is needed. Here, the performances of 165 and 183 GHz low-noise amplifier microchips intended for atmospheric water vapor profiling application are reported. The microchips are manufactured in metamorphic high-electron mobility transistor technology having a gate length of 50 nm. The on-wafer measured results show noise figures of 4.4-7.4 dB and 16-25 dB gain at the operating frequencies. In addition, two of the amplifiers were assembled in waveguide packages and the measured results show a gain of 19-20 dB and 7 dB noise figure at both 165 and 183 GHz.