A 1.2-V GaAs MMIC Ultra-Low-Noise Amplifier for K-band Applications

Abstract

A four-stage K-band MMIC Low-Noise Amplifier (LNA) is designed using a 70 nm GaAs mHEMT OMMIC process (D007IH). Based on Momentum EM simulation results, the fourstage LNA achieves a gain of 29.5 dB ±1 dB, a Noise Figure (NF) as low as 1 dB and an Input Return Loss better than -10 dB across the band. The LNA chip size is 2500μmx1750μm. The design work flow allows the improvement of the NF and the Input Return Loss of the LNA since the source impedance is selected to minimize the number of elements required to implement the input matching network. The input matching network of the proposed circuit consists of a single tapered octagonal inductor in series with the gate of the active device, resulting in a low impact for the NF achieved by the first stage and a remarkable improvement of the Input Return Loss of the LNA.