High-yield W-band monolithic HEMT low-noise amplifier and image rejection downconverter chips

High-yield W-band monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs), namely, a three-stage low-noise amplifier (LNA) and a monolithic image rejection downconverter (IRD), are discussed. The LNA is used as the front end followed by an image rejection mixer (IRM). These MMICs were fabricated in the 0.1- mu m AlGaAs-InGaAs-GaAs HEMT production line. The LNA demonstrated a typical 17-dB gain and 4.5-5.5-dB noise figure at 94 GHz. The complete monolithic IRD has a measured conversion gain of 7-9 dB with a single-side-band noise figure of 6 dB when downconverting a 93-95-GHz RF signal to 50-500 MHz. The downconversion requires an LO power of 9 dBm. The development of these MMICs shows the increasing maturity of GaAs-based HEMT MMIC technology at W-band.< >