A 206–294GHz 3-stage amplifier in 35nm InP mHEMT, using a thin-film microstrip environment

Abstract

We present a compact, 3-stage millimeter-wave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifier with an operating frequency of 206–294 GHz, formed by common-source configured 35 nm Lg InP mHEMTs and a multi-layer thin-film microstrip (TFM) wiring environment. The amplifier S21 mid-band gain is 11–16 dB, 3 dB bandwidth at 294 GHz, and 82.5 mW PDC. This is the first reported InP HEMT MMIC operating in G-, H-band employing thin-film microstrip. Because the TFM ground-plane shields the signal interconnects from the substrate, well behaved device (0.1–67, 140–200, 210–310 GHz) and amplifier (206–320 GHz) measurements are presented from an unthinned, 25 mil substrate. The total size of this 3-stage amplifier is only 0.77×0.40 mm².