NOVEL MONOLITHIC MULTIFUNCTIONAL BALANCED SWITCHING LOW-NOISE AMPLIFIERS

A novel multifunctional balanced switching low-noise amplifier (BSLNA) which can be used as a low-noise amplifier, a low-noise switch, or a broad-band 180 degrees phase shifter is proposed. Two monolithic BSLNA 's at Ka- and W-band frequencies are demonstrated using the 0.1 mu m p seudomorphic (PM) InP- and GaAs-based HEMT technologies, respectively. Potential applications of the novel BSLNA are in on-off keying (OFK) or binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) in communication systems and input switch for Dicke-switched radiometer systems. The extensions of this BSLNA structure to be a single-pole double-throw switch and a crossbar switch to interchange two signal paths are also addressed.