Single MMIC receivers for C-band T/R module in 0.25 μm GaN technology

In this contribution two different versions of MMIC LNAs integrating the limiting function are presented. The chips are designed with 0.25 μm gate length GaN on SiC technology as provided by Leonardo foundry, and arrange the receiving circuitry of a T/R module operating in C-band, specific for AESA systems. The final performance show the differences of the two circuits, which were designed with different methodologies. For the first version the constant mismatch circles method was applied, while for the second version, the typical design method for LNAs was adopted. Both circuits use the same switch (absorptive SPST), that exhibits an isolation level better than 30 dB and insertion loss lower than 0.6 dB. The first version shows a wider operation bandwidth, with a noise figure of 2.2 dB, a gain of 35.5 dB, and excellent levels of return loss (22 dB for input and 23 dB for output). The second version exhibits a noise figure of 2.1 dB, a gain of 35.5 dB, with return losses of 22 dB and 20 dB for input and output respectively.