A Transformed-based Ka-band GaN Low-Noise Amplifier MMIC

Abstract

This paper reports the design of a broadband GaN low noise amplifier (LNA) microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC). A novel transformer structure is proposed to implement the gm-boosting as well as bandwidth extension in the LNA. The designed LNA shows >20dB gain, <2dB noise figure (NF) and >14.5dBm output 1dB compression point (OP1dB) within a wide working frequency range from 20 to 41GHz, which fully covers the Ka-band. In addition, the gain and NF fluctuation is less than 2dB and 0.7dB, respectively. The die size of the LNA MMIC is 1.6×1mm2. This work verifies the feasibility of the transformer-based LNA design in GaN MMIC platform.