A Cool, Sub-0.2 dB, Ultra-Low Noise Gallium Nitride Multi-Octave MMIC LNA-PA with 2-Watt Output Power

This paper reports on a S-,C-band LNA-PA which achieves a sub-0.2dB noise figure over a multi-octave band and a PSAT of 2 Watts at a cooled temperature of -30ºC. The GaN MMIC is based on a 0.2um AlGaN/GaN-SiC HEMT technology with an fT ~ 75 GHz. At a cool temperature of -30ºC and a power bias of 15V-400mA, the MMIC obtains 0.25-0.45dB NF over a 2-8GHz band and a linear P1dB of 32.8dBm (~2 Watts) with 25% PAE. At a medium bias of 12V-200mA, the amplifier obtains 0.1-0.2dB NF across the same band and a P1dB of 32.2 dBm (1.66Watts) with 35% PAE. The corresponding PSAT is better than 2Watts. At a low-noise bias of 5V-200mA, 0.05-0.15dB NF is achieved with a P1dB > 24dBm and PAE~33%. These results are believed to be the lowest NF ever reported for a multioctave fully matched MMIC amplifier capable of > 2Watts of output power. The ultra-low noise, wide band, and high power obtained at modestly low temperature operation makes this an attractive and practical low-cost soluti