FULLY PASSIVATED W-BAND INALAS INGAAS/INP MONOLITHIC LOW-NOISE AMPLIFIERS/

The development of W-band monolithic low noise amplifiers (LNAs) using a fully passivated 0.1 mu m pseudomorphic InAlAs/InGaAs/InP low noise HEMT technology is presented. Both wafer passivation and stabilisatio n bakes have been introduced, for the first time, to the InP HEMT MMIC process to make it more suitable for production. A three-stage single -ended 94 GHz monolithic LNA shows a measured noise figure of 3.3 dB a nd 20 dB associated gain. A measured noise figure of 2.3 dB is achieve d for a single-stage MMIC LNA at 94 GHz. These results represent state -of-the-art performance of HEMT MMIC LNAs at this frequency. The effec ts due to SiN passivation for both HEMT device and circuit performance are also addressed.