LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS SKA LNA Technologies and Topologies Saswata Bhaumik PhD Student Dr Danielle George The University of Manchester

LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS Overview LNA design work carried out around the World Purpose of presentation is to bring together this work Contributions from most major players within SKA Highlight some of the key research and development ONLY MEASURED DATA INCLUDED

LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS Contributors ASTRON & GIF CSIRO California Institute of Technology - TDP France - OPAR University of Calgary University of Manchester

LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS ASTRON - APERTIF 1e iteration LNACurrently installed LNA Frequency (MHz) Fmin (dB) Rn (Ohm) Γopt mag. Γopt phase Fmin (dB)Rn (Ohm) Γopt mag.Γopt phase

LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS ASTRON - APERTIF 1e iteration LNACurrently installed LNA Gain 40dB42dB NF50 across band Linearity OIP3: 25dB Transistors COTS: stage1: ATF54143, stages 2and 3: MGA53543 COTS: same type of components

LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS ASKAP - CSIRO COTS components - ATF PHEMTs MHz 300 Ω input impedance, differential 50 Ω output Noise Calibration Procedure Te of selected LNAs with liquid nitrogen. Y-factor of the LNAs on noise test fixture. Calculate Thot and ENR of the noise test fixture. Calibration valid for same “series” LNAs. Reference-Acquired with permission from CSIRO

LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS University of Calgary Differential Noise Measurement Four possible combinations of two input ports and two output ports Single-ended F31, F32, F41, and F42 and G31, G32, G41 and G42 with a noise figure analyzer. Unused ports terminated in 50. Determination of input-referred available noise powers. Differential noise figure determination through theoretical calculation. LNA Details 90nm CMOS 0.8 to1.4GHz Differential 50 Ω system 25K NF(50) 15dB gain Reference- Acquired with permission from Dr. Leonid Belostotski. Copyright belongs to IEEE.

LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS France - OPAR LNA Details: QuBiC4G: 0.25μm SiGe 2 stages Differential amplifier 100 Ohms impedance 72.6mW power dissipation -1 dBm OP1dB Reference- SKADS-wiki

LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS France - OPAR LNA Details: QuBiC4X: SiGe:C Single ended 50 Ohm 300Mhz-1Ghz 69.3 mW power consumption -2dBm OP1dB Reference- SKADS-wiki

LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS University of Manchester InP Development 1μm gate-length InP process LNA measured data Gain: >10dB Frequency: 0.2-2GHz Power dissipation: 45mW Reference- SKADS-wiki

LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS Caltech - TDP CIT Design Type Frequency Range Noise (June’09) NEUT SiGe differential feedback LNA. IBM 8HP process 0.1 to 15 15K WBAL2 InP differential LNA 0.5 to 11 Meas 60K P5T4 SiGe differential feedback LNA. IBM 8HP process 0.5 to 4 60K WBA13 InP LNA0.5 to 12 Meas <10K Models developed at 12K Resistive feedback highly effective with the SiGe technology for broadband design. Noise Measure is more important than Tmin. New noise measurement procedure being experimented with.

LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS Caltech - TDP LNA Details Measured data of 2 LNAs with ST and commercially available NXP transistors at 1.4GHz. Reference-“Matched Wideband LNAs for radio astronomy”,S. Weinreb, J. Bardin, H.Mani, G. Jones. Published in Review of Scientific Instruments,2009

LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS University of Manchester GaAs mHEMT LNA Details 70nm OMMIC GaAs mHEMT Two stage single ended MMIC LNA 50Ohm system Gain: 23dB 35K NF(50) Frequency: 0.7-4Ghz

LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS University of Manchester Transistor characterisation Several wafer samples of mHEMTs and pHEMTs of both GaAs and InP have been measured. Temperature stabilisation may be important

LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS Summary Measured LNA Data Table ASTRON *IGN CSIROUniversity of Calgary OPARUniversity of Manchester (M&N) California Institute of Technology University of Manchester (MACS) Gain 42dB28dB15dB*27dB **24dB 10dB>30dB25dB NT 35K *35K 40K14K 25K *65K **56K N.A.*55K **10K 35K Frequency GHz *0.3-1 GHz GHz GHz* **0.4-1 GHz 0.2-2GHz** GHz GHz Technology GaAs pHEMT 90nm CMOS 0.25µm SiGe HBT 1µm InP pHEMT SiGe HBT & InP 70nm GaAs mHEMT Topology SE & *Diff DiffSE & DiffDiff* & SE** SEDiff & SESE Impedance 50Ω * Ω85Ω 50Ω *100Ω **50Ω 50Ω270Ω diff50Ω Temperature RT RT & Cryo (22K) RT*RT & **Cryo (17K) RT

LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS Conclusions (i) GaAs pHEMT, GaAs mHEMT, InP pHEMT, SiGe HBT and CMOS technology has been researched. Measured data of 6 SE and 5 differential LNA has been shown. 14K CMOS SE LNA at RT BY University of Calgary. 25K NT CMOS differential GHz LNA has been measured with 15dB gain at RT in University of Calgary. Cryogenic (15K ambient) SiGe Differential LNA with 10K NT and decade bandwidth has been measured in CalTech (TDP). OPAR has measured 10K NT and 20dB gain single ended 22K ambient temperature. 2 promising and comprehensive differential noise measurement techniques by CSIRO and University of Calgary.

LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS Conclusions (ii) GaAs LNA developed by ASTRON has OIP3 of 25dBm. And impressive results from Apertif. Temperature stabilisation is necessary to maintain consistent NT and gain. How cost effective is it? State-of-the-art GaAs devices can exhibit lower power consumption characteristics than InP devices to achieve same transconductance. Linearity issues with low power? 5K NT possible to achieve with cooling down to 15K ambient temperature. The associated power also decreases significantly. But is it cost effective? Not only Tmin temperature but also Noise Measure is very (if not the most) important aspect of LNA. Backs up argument of having LNA test verification facility in Europe (Dr George suggests ASTRON as base!)

LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS Appendix-1 (Caltech) Reference- “Cryogenics Feasibility and LNA Options, Arecibo Focal Phased Array Workshop, Cornell University, July 21, 2009”

LNA Technologies and Topologies SKADS K noise, 20mW power, and -10 dB input return loss are feasible specs Appendix-1 (Caltech) Reference-“Matched Wideband LNAs for radio astronomy”,S. Weinreb, J. Bardin, H.Mani, G. Jones. Published in Review of Scientific Instruments,2009