MMIC development for millimeter-wave space application

The latest millimeter-wave monolithic-microwave integrated-circuit (MMIC) developments and technologies at the Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Kanagawa, Japan, concerning high power amplifiers, low-noise amplifiers and phase shifters have been summarized. It has been shown that high-efficiency, low-noise, and low-loss performance for millimeter-wave space applications can be achieved by employing pseudomorphic high electron-mobility transistor (p-HEMT) MMIC technology. The investigation for gamma-ray irradiation hardness has cleared that millimeter wave p-HEMT MMICs have over a 100 years of life against gamma-ray irradiation in the space environment.