First demonstration of MMIC Low-Noise Amplifiers operating at Ka-band realized with Enhancement-mode Gallium Nitride HEMTs

In this contribution a first demonstrator of a Low-Noise Amplifier (LNA) employing an Enhancement-mode Gallium Nitride (GaN) High Electron Mobility Transistor in industrial-grade technology is given. The realized demonstrator MMIC features 20 dB gain and 1.5 dB Noise Figure in the 27 to 31 GHz bandwidth, targeting Ka-band SATCOM applications. A depletion-mode GaN LNA is realised in the same foundry run to comparatively assess the advantages and disadvantages of the E- and D-mode GaN LNA solutions. To the best of the Authors' knowledge this is the first example of a MMIC GaN LNA realized using an Enhancement-mode (normally-OFF) transistor.