A Cryogenic On-Chip Noise Measurement Procedure with ±1.4-K Measurement Uncertainty

This paper reports on a cryogenic noise temperature measurement system that is capable of performing measurements directly at the reference plane of a chip. The system uses the well known cold attenuator measurement principle. Wire-bonding a monolithic microwave integrated circuit attenuator to the device under test enables precise measurements at chip level. The overall noise measurement uncertainty in the Ku-band has been estimated to be ± 1.4 K in a 3 σ confidence interval. This estimated measurement uncertainty is able to compete with state-of-the-art coaxial measurement systems, although proper matching is harder to achieve in probing systems.