Millimeter-wave GaN-on-Si Low-noise Amplifier MMIC

Low Noise Amplifier(LNA)is one of core components in the RF front-end.As the first-stage amplifier of the radio-frequency(RF)receiving chain,the noise figure,gain,and linearity of LNA directly affect the performance of the radio frequency receiver.In practical applications,the amplitude of the signal received by the LNA from the antenna exhibits a large variation.In order to increase the dynamic range of the receiver and reduce power consumption,a variable gain low noise amplifier(VGLNA)is favorable.Third-generation semiconductor Ga N based microwave monolithic integrated circuit(MMIC)has outstanding advantages in applications such as communications and radar,and has become a research hotspot in RF technology in recent years.With the development of 5G technology,millimeter-wave LNA has attracted great attention.Compared with CMOS process,millimeter-wave VGLNA and broadband LNA using Ga N process are rarely reported.Based on Ga N-on-Si process,this thesis reports the millimeter-wave VGLNA for RF front-end applications and broadband LNA covering the Ka-band.The main research is the following:1)In this paper,a VGLNA MMIC based on Ga N-on-Si process is designed fabricated and measured.The VGLNA achieves the performance of gain turning range of-5?20d B,in-band gain fluctuation of less than 2d B,the lowest in-band noise figure of 1.79 d B and average P1 d B of 15 d Bm under high gain state in the frequency range of 20?26GHz.The test results of VGLNA applied to the RF receiving end show that there is also a 20 d B flat gain in the frequency band,the gain turning range is 0?20d B,and the minimum noise figure is1.75 d B under high gain,which verifies the applicability of Ga N VGLNA in the RF front-end system;2)Based on the circuit analysis of silicon-based Ga N transformer feedback low noise amplifier,this paper designs two types of broadband low noise amplifier MMIC based on transformer coupling.The post-layout simulation results of the two works show that the working frequency range is 22?43GHz,which can fully cover the Ka band,the performance of noise figure less than 2d B,gain greater than 20 d B and gain fluctuation less than 2d B in the working frequency band,which verifies the feasibility of the transformer based broadband LNA structure in the design of Ga N MMIC circuit.Therefore,the output of this work is helpful to improve the sensitivity and linearity of millimeter-wave transceivers,and the results can be applied to the fields of mobile communication,radar,consumer electronics,and other fields.