Noise in GaN HEMTs and circuits

GaN HEMTs are known to outperform GaAs technologies in power applications, while their noise performance drew much less attention. Only recently, results were published for GaN that are competitive in terms of low-noise performance. This paper discusses the optimization of GaN HEMT technology concerning low-noise performance empirically, based on own measurements and on data from the literature. Finally, the current status in low-noise amplifier performance and ruggedness is briefly discussed.