Millimeter-wave low-noise and high-power metamorphic HEMT amplifiers and devices on GaAs substrates

This paper reports on state-of-the-art HEMT devices and circuit results utilizing 32% and 60% indium content InGaAs channel metamorphic technology on GaAs substrates. The 60 % In metamorphic HEMT (MHEMT) has achieved an excellent 0.61-dB minimum noise figure with 11.8 dB of associated gain at 26 GHz. Using this MHEMT technology, two and three stage Ka-band low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) have demonstrated <1.4-dB noise figure with 16 dB of gain and <1.7 with 26 dB of gain, respectively. The 32% In MHEMT device has overcome the <3.5-V drain bias limitation of other MHEMT power devices, showing a power density of 650 mW/mm at 35 GHz, with V(ds) = 6 V.