A 12 GHz-band monolithic HEMT low-noise amplifier

A 12-GHz-band two-stage monolithic HEMT (high-electron-mobility transistor) low-noise amplifier has been developed. The HEMT used in the amplifier has a gate length of 0.5 mu m and shows a typical noise figure of 1.0 dB at 12-GHz. The noise figure of the amplifier is less than 1.7 dB with an associated gain over 15.0 dB in the frequency range from 11.7 to 12.7 GHz. The input VSWR (voltage standing-wave ratio) is less than 1.9 and the output VSWR is less than 1.5. These results suggest that the HEMT MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuit) has promising applicability for microwave low-noise amplification.<<ETX>>