A Sub-mmW Receiver MMIC Achieving a 6.8-dB Average Noise Figure Over a >190-GHz Bandwidth

This paper presents a receiver monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) that covers a minimum frequency range from 140 to 333 GHz. The MMIC is fabricated in a 35-nm gate-length InGaAs metamorphic high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) technology. The receiver MMIC comprises of a low-noise amplifier, an LO buffer, and a mixer. The amplifiers share the same distributed amplifier core. The balanced resistive fundamental HEMT mixer achieves a conversion gain as high as −7 dB. The receiver MMIC is designed to achieve an upper band edge of more than 400 GHz. Over the measured frequency range from 140 to 333 GHz, the receiver exhibits an average conversion gain of 16.5 dB and an average noise figure of 6.8 dB, ranging from 4.5 to 8.7 dB. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first receiver MMIC covering a bandwidth of >190 GHz, while achieving an average noise figure of 6.8 dB.