A Sub-mmW Receiver MMIC Achieving a 6.8-dB Average Noise Figure Over a >190-GHz Bandwidth

This letter presents a receiver (Rx) monolithic microwave-integrated circuit (MMIC) that covers a minimum frequency range from 140 to 333 GHz. The MMIC is fabricated in a 35-nm gate-length InGaAs metamorphic high-electron-mobility transistor (mHEMT) technology. The Rx MMIC comprises a low-noise amplifier, an local oscillator (LO) buffer driver, and a fundamental mixer. The amplifiers share the same distributed-amplifier core. The fundamental mixer is based on a balanced resistive high-electron-mobility transistor topology and achieves a conversion gain (CG) as high as −8.2dB. The Rx MMIC is designed to achieve an upper band edge of more than 400 GHz. Across the measured frequency range from 140 to 333 GHz, the Rx exhibits an average CG of 16.1dB and an average noise figure (NF) of 6.8 dB, ranging from 4.5 to 8.7 dB. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first Rx MMIC covering a bandwidth of more than 190GHz, while achieving an average NF of 6.8 dB.