Robust-5W Reconfigurable S/X-band GaN LNA using a 90nm T-gate GaN HEMT Technology

This paper describes the design and measured performance of an S/X-band reconfigurable low noise amplifier (RLNA) MMIC based on a 90nm T-gate GaN technology. This GaN technology is characterized by a peak fT of 145 GHz, an NF min of < 0.5dB at 10GHz, and a FET Switch FOM of −900GHz. The SIX-band RLNA was designed to reconfigure between 3-3.5GHz and 9-11GHz bands and achieves a NF of 1.3-1.5dB and 1.2-1.5dB and a gain of> 17.5dB and 13.5dB in the respective bands. The X-band NF is a 0.5dB improvement with respect to a previously reported SIX-band reconfigurable LNA implemented in a 0.15um GaN technology [3]–[4] and is believed to be among the lowest NF reported at X-band by a robust GaN-based MMIC LNA with more than 15% BW. The 90nm GaN RLNA achieves an OIP3 of 33.6-36dBm and 33.2-36dBm at S- and X-band, respectively, and obtains an input power survivability of > 37dBm (5W) with less than 0.1dB degradation in gain and NF performance. The band-reconfigurable performance capability is attractive for adaptive and robust EW, radar, as well as future commercial wireless communication systems.