L-Band MMICs for Space-based SAR system

The design and performance of an L-Band GaAs chip-set is presented.The chip-set consists of a 6-bit attenuator circuit,a Low-Noise Amplifier (LNA)and a Multi Function Chip that is the combination of a 6-bit attenuator and 6-bit Phase shifter circuit.The chip-set is developed for the pre-flight engineering T/R (Transmit and Receive)modules currently in development with Astrium in a space-based SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar)system.The MMICs are realised in the 0.25 µm PHEMT (PH25)technology of UMS.Only one iteration was needed for the MMICs in order to be fully compliant with the specifications.