InAs/AlSb HEMTs for cryogenic LNAs at ultra-low power dissipation
Journal article, 2011

Properties of the InAs/AlSb high electron mobility transistor, essential for the design of a cryogenic low-noise amplifier (LNA) operating at low power dissipation, have been studied. Upon cooling from 300 K to 77 K. the dc transconductance g(m) was enhanced by 30% at a drain-source voltage V(DS) of 0.1 V. The gate current leakage showed a strong reduction of the Schottky current component at 77 K. Compared to 300 K, the cut-off frequency f(T) and maximum oscillation frequency f(max) showed a significant improvement at 77 K with a peak f(T) (f(max)) of 167 (142) GHz at V(DS) = 0.2 V. The suitability of the Sb HEMT for a cryogenic LNA design up to 50 GHz, operating at low dc power dissipation, was investigated through the extraction of the NF(tot,min) figure of merit. It was found that the best device performance in terms of noise and gain is achieved at a low V(DS) of 0.16 v resulting in a minimum NF(tot,min) of 0.6 dB for a frequency of 10 GHz when operating at 77 K. A benchmarking between the Sb HEMT and an InP HEMT has been conducted highlighting the device improvement in noise and gain required to reach today's state-of-the-art cryogenic LNAs.

Microwave

Antimonide

InAs/AlSb

HEMT

Low power

frequency

Cryogenic

Low noise amplifier

Author

Giuseppe Moschetti

Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Microwave Electronics

Niklas Wadefalk

Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Microwave Electronics

Per-Åke Nilsson

Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Microwave Electronics

Y. Roelens

University of Lille

A. Noudeviwa

University of Lille

L. Desplanque

University of Lille

X. Wallart

University of Lille

F. Danneville

University of Lille

G. Dambrine

University of Lille

S. Bollaert

University of Lille

Jan Grahn

Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Microwave Electronics

Solid-State Electronics

0038-1101 (ISSN)

Vol. 64 1 47-53

Subject Categories

Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering

DOI

10.1016/j.sse.2011.06.048

More information

Created

10/8/2017