Medium power X-Band LNA in 0.25 µm GaN technology

A low noise amplifier operating in the 8.5÷11.5 GHz (X Band) was designed and realized. The LNA uses the AlGaN/GaN HEMT technology provided by the Leonardo foundry. The low noise amplifier is composed by a cascaded of three single-ended stages. The realized MMIC amplifier has the following measured performance: 24.7dB small-signal gain with a ±1 dB ripple; a noise figure ranging from 1.6 dB to 1.8 dB in the upper half of the X Band, and reaching 2.1 dB full band; a 1-dB output compression point of 26.7 dBm was obtained. Chip size is 3.0x1.5 mm2. The design approach implemented is focused on maximizing overall gain and noise performance, as well as obtaining a good level of output power.