AN INP HEMT W-BAND AMPLIFIER WITH MONOLITHICALLY INTEGRATED HBT BIAS REGULATION

This paper presents the results of the first W-band InP-based high ele ctron mobility transistor-heterojunction bipolar transistor (HEMT-HBT) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC). The InP-based HBT and HEMT devices are monolithically integrated using selective molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The amplifier demonstrates the highest frequency p erformance MMIC so far obtained with this technology. A single-stage H BT op-amp current regulator is integrated with a single-stage HEMT amp lifier in order to regulate and self-bias the HEMT device over process , temperature, and age variations. The HBT regulates the HEMT dc bias to within 3% of the bias current while consuming only a small fraction of the total de power. The HEMT W-band amplifier achieves a radio fre quency (RF) gain of 8.25 and 5.9 dB at 77 and 94 GHz, respectively. A minimum noise figure of 4.2 dB was also recorded at 93.5 GHz. The RF p erformance achieved from the HEMT amplifier using the InP-based HEMT-H BT integrated technology is comparable to that of InP-based single-tec hnology HEMT performance.