Comparison of two W-band low-noise amplifier MMICs with ultra low power consumption based on 50 nm InGaAs mHEMT technology

Two millimeter-wave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) low-noise amplifiers (LNA), operating in the frequency range between 58 and 110 GHz and 74 and 110 GHz, respectively, are presented. The W-band amplifiers employ a threestage design in a 50nm InGaAs mHEMT technology and were optimized for minimum DC power consumption, using 2 x 10 and 2 x 5 µm transistors. For optimum bias conditions the first amplifier achieved a linear gain of more than 16.4 dB and a noise figure of less than 2.8 dB over the whole W-band, whereas the second amplifier operates in the frequency range between 80 to 110 GHz with a linear gain of over 14.5 dB and a noise figure of less than 3.3 dB. The best achieved noise figure is 2.1 dB and the maximum gain is about 23 dB. LNA 1 yields a noise figure of 3 dB and a gain of 8.9 dB at an operation frequency of 106 GHz, whilst only consuming 0.9mW of DC power.