Broadband MMIC LNAs for ALMA Band 2+3 With Noise Temperature Below 28 K

David Cuadrado-Calle, Danielle George, Gary A. Fuller, Kieran Cleary, Lorene Samoska, Pekka Kangaslahti, Jacob W. Kooi, Mary Soria, Mikko Varonen, Richard Lai, Xiaobing Mei

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

    33 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Recent advancements in transistor technology, such as the 35 nm InP HEMT, allow for the development of monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) low noise amplifiers (LNAs) with performance properties that challenge the hegemony of SIS mixers as leading radio astronomy detectors at frequencies as high as 116 GHz. In particular, for the Atacama Large Millimeter and Submillimeter Array (ALMA), this technical advancement allows the combination of two previously defined bands, 2 (67-90 GHz) and 3 (84-116 GHz), into a single ultra-broadband 2+3 (67-116 GHz) receiver. With this purpose, we present the design, implementation, and characterization of LNAs suitable for operation in this new ALMA band 2+3, and also a different set of LNAs for ALMA band 2. The best LNAs reported here show a noise temperature less than 250 K from 72 to 104 GHz at room temperature, and less than 28 K from 70 to 110 GHz at cryogenic ambient temperature of 20 K. To the best knowledge of the authors, this is the lowest wideband noise ever published in the 70-110 GHz frequency range, typically designated as W-band.
    Original languageEnglish
    Article number7836302
    Pages (from-to)1589-1597
    JournalIEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques
    Volume65
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2017
    MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

    Keywords

    • Atacama Large Millimeter and Submillimeter Array (ALMA)
    • band 2+3
    • broadband
    • cryogenic
    • low noise amplifier (LNA)
    • monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC)
    • 35 nm InP
    • W-band
    • WR-10
    • OtaNano

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