Interlaboratory comparison of noise-parameter measurements on CMOS devices with 0.12 μm gate length

We present results of an interlaboratory comparison of S-parameter and noise-parameter measurements performed on 0.12 µm gate-length CMOS transistors. Copies of the same device were measured at three different laboratories (IBM, NIST, RFMD), and the results were compared. Each of the laboratories used a different measurement method, although two used similar commercial systems. Effects of different calibration reference planes are shown. The devices measured have large values of |S11|, |S22|, and |Γopt|, and have very low minimum noise figures (below 0.2 dB) over some of the frequency range. For the most part, the measurements at the different laboratories are in reasonable agreement, though there are discrepancies. It is also evident that the noise performance of the devices is better than our ability to measure it.