A 2 mW, Sub-2 dB Noise Figure, SiGe Low-Noise Amplifier For X-band High-Altitude or Space-based Radar Applications

Abstract

This paper presents a low-power X-band low-noise amplifier (LNA) implemented in silicon-germanium (SiGe) technology targeting high-altitude or space-based low-power density phased-array radar systems. To our knowledge, this X-band LNA is the first in a Si-based technology to achieve less than 2 dB mean noise figure while dissipating only 2 mW from a 1.5 V power supply. The gain of the circuit is 10 dB at 10 GHz with an <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">IIP</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> of 0 dBm. In addition to standard amplifier characterization, the LNA's total dose radiation response has been evaluated.