Event Details
Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) Design for Radio Astronomy Applications
Presenter: Alireza Seyfallahi
Supervisor:
Date: Mon, April 16, 2018
Time: 14:00:00 - 15:00:00
Place: EOW 430
ABSTRACT
The oresentation highlights research on theory, design, EM modeling, fabrication, packaging and measurement of GaAs Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (MMICs). The goal of this work is to design MMIC LNAs with low noise figure, high gain and wide bandwidth.
The work aims to develop GaAs MMIC LNAs for the application of RF front end receivers in radio telescopes. GaAs MMIC technology offers modern radio astronomy attractive solutions based on its advantage in terms of high operational frequency, low noise, excellent repeatability and high integration density. Theoretical investigations are performed, presenting the formulation and graphical methods, and focusing on a systematic method to design a low noise amplifier for the best noise, gain and input/output return loss. Additionally, an EM simulation method is utilized and successfully applied to MMIC designs. The effect of packaging including the wire bond and chassis is critical as the frequency increases. Therefore, it is modeled by full-wave analysis where the measured results verify the reliability of these models. The designed MMICs are validated by measurements of several prototypes, including three C/X band and one Q band MMIC LNAs. Moreover, comparison to similar industrial chips demonstrates the superiority of the proposed structures regarding bandwidth, noise and gain flatness, and making them suitable for use in radio astronomy receivers.