Design and performance of a 2-18 GHz monolithic matrix amplifier

An amplifier that utilizes eight MESFETs that are evenly distributed over two tiers is considered. A brief description is presented of the circuit design and its fabrication. Among the test results measured for the experimental monolithic matrix amplifier are a small-signal gain of 15.5+or-0.9 dB and a maximum noise figure of 7 dB over the 2-18-GHz bandwidth. The maximum return loss is -12.5 dB for the input and -12 dB for the output port, corresponding to VSWRs of 1.62:1 and 1.67:1, respectively. Output powers at 1-dB, 2-dB, and 5-dB compression were measured; their minimum levels were at 15.5 dBm. 16.5 dBm, and 18.2 dBm, respectively. Over the temperature range of -55 degrees C to +95 degrees , the small-signal gain varies fairly uniformly. A maximum gain variation of 4.4 dB was measured over the entire temperature range. The maximum noise figure increased to 8.1 dB at 95 degrees C. >