W-Band Low-Noise-Amplifier MMICs in InGaAs HEMT Technologies on Gallium-Arsenide and Silicon Substrates

This paper reports on broadband low-noise amplifier (LNA) microwave monolithic integrated circuits (MMICs) realized in InGaAs high-electron-mobility transistor technology on GaAs and Si substrates targeting frequencies that extend the W-band (75–110 GHz). InGaAs HEMT LNA MMICs on silicon substrate offer new options to hetero-integrate III /V semiconductor RF-performance with functionalities available in CMOS for applications such as multi-channel receivers. The use of front-side thin-film microstrip lines for matching allows for a feasible HEMT technology comparison even with different substrates. LNA1 is realized in 35nm metamorphic HEMT technology on GaAs substrate and LNA2 is realized in a 20nm InGaAs HEMT-on-insulator technology on Si substrate. Both circuits use the same passive networks for a fair comparison. LNA1 achieves an average small-signal gain of 33.2 dB between 66–114 GHz with an average noise temperature of 189K (2.2 dB) in W-band. LNA2 on silicon substrate achieves 32.6 dB small-signal gain on average between 66–114 GHz with 218K (2.4 dB) average input noise in W-band.